Rusting HMS Westminster towed away from Portsmouth for the last time with frigate set for 'disposal'
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She was retired in 2024 due to her deteriorating condition, unsuitable for a refit
A retired Royal Navy frigate that’s in a deteriorating condition has left Portsmouth for the final time.
HMS Westminster was towed from HMNB Portsmouth’s North Corner Jetty at around 1.15pm this afternoon (July 24). A cluster of naval photographers joined a packed Hot Walls to watch her leave, as she departed shortly before Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan sailed to HMNB Portsmouth following phase one of Operation Firecrest.
Towed by Protug 87, Indulgent, and Independent, HMS Westminster was brought to the open water after being alongside Portsmouth Naval Base and Fareham Creek for several months.
A Royal Navy spokesperson has confirmed the fate of the frigate. They said: “Decommissioned Type-23 frigate HMS Westminster will leave Portsmouth for the final time on Friday, 24 July.
“Following the Ministry of Defence's competitive recycling tendering process, the frigate will now undergo disposal at an appropriately authorised recycling facility.”
HMS Westminster was in a sorry state as she sailed past the Hot Walls. Her hull was clearly rusting, scaffolding covered much of the vessel, and many of her features had clearly been stripped for parts. When she was originally brought to Portsmouth in September 2025, the Duke-class warship was placed under the management of the Disposal Reserve Ships Organisation.
She was officially commissioned in 1994, serving extensively on Nato operations and in the Gulf. Notable missions included Operation Ellamy, the British role in coalition blockade during the 2011 Libyan civil war. Other operations included Exercise Joint Warrior in 2013, being part of the Cougar 12 task group in the Mediterranean and Gulf, sailing alongside US aircraft carrier George H W Bush, Nato’s Exercise Dynamic Mongoose in 2020, and Operation Atlantic Thunder in 2022.
HMS Westminster was retired alongside her sister ship, HMS Argyll, in May 2024 under the previous Conservative government. Long-held plans for the frigate to be refitted had been shelved. Royal Navy top brass were quizzed about the status of HMS Westminster in 2023.
Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, Mark Francois, previously said she was in such poor condition that she was likely not to be refitted, despite several years of loyal service to the crown. A lack of available manpower was also mooted in the national press as a reason behind the end of her career.
Many of the Duke-class ships are being retired due to their aging and deteriorating condition The Royal Navy now has just five frigates. Modern and sophisticated Type 26 and 31 frigates are currently being built, but the first of these 13 ships will not be a part of the fleet until 2028 at the earliest. This is alongside planned Common Combat Vessels and autonomous platforms to create a hybrid force of conventional warships, working alongside un-crewed vessels and submersibles.