Royal Navy's HMS Medway celebrates year since leaving Portsmouth for Caribbean

It is exactly a year since HMS Medway left Portsmouth with much of that time spent getting to know the small islands in the region and offer emergency support during disasters.

But the highlight of the year - during which Medway has sailed 50,000 miles and spent 184 of her 366 days at sea - being a number of high profile drug captures.

Medway, working both independently and in tandem with support ship RFA Argus, busted a dozen vessels with four boarded and two seized and subsequently sunk.

On one occasion Medway seized 650kg of cocaine and forced drug runners to ditch an estimated half tonne of the illegal narcotic on another.

The busts were the pinnacle of the ship’s deployment and saw Medway gain international media coverage – whilst delivering a blow to traffickers.

Medway is at the vanguard of the Royal Navy’s Forward Presence programme, stationing warships overseas for several years at a time, using regional ports and British or allied nations’ bases for resupply and maintenance and regular crew changes.

She is currently in Mayport, Florida, undergoing winter maintenance before resuming her work to provide support, assistance and reassurance for Britain’s overseas territories in the region.

Gunnery officer Lieutenant Solomon Jacka said: ‘The past year has provided amazing experiences to see and work in areas of the world I never expected to travel to and meet and work with people from many different nations.’

Underwater warfare specialist Able Seaman Cavan Robinson said: ‘Working onboard outside my core branch has been a great opportunity, getting involved in sea boat launches and gunnery which I wouldn’t normally be as involved with has been very enjoyable.’

Chief Petty Officer Luke Travell, the longest serving member of the crew, was proud of the development of Medway after he joined while she was still being built on the Clyde in Scotland back in 2017.

‘Assisting with the build process up to taking Medway on her first deployment has been a challenge and an honour. Now she is fully functioning and a key asset to overseas territories,’ he said.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Medway has still called at Gibraltar, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, Guantanamo Bay, Curacao, Martinique, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

The ship is not expected in home waters for years as she continues to patrol Britain’s North Atlantic territories.

The ship’s hard work and achievements were recognised with Medway being named the best patrol ship in its Fleet in 2020.

Lieutenant Commander Jim Blythe, the ship’s Commanding Officer, said: ‘This has been an extraordinary deployment for Medway, with the challenges of being a forward deployed unit further compounded by the ongoing pandemic.

‘However, my ship’s company has remained focused and delivered an excellent output, with many first of class successes being achieved this year, including the first deck landings by Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, and conducting exercises with our partners in the region.’

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A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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