In this photo and video essay we cover the RN’s recent operation shadowing a group of Russian ships through the English Channel.
The RN has now released imagery of the tasking that saw three ships, HMS Iron Duke, HMS Tyne, together with RFA Tideforce deployed. The Russian group heading eastward comprised of the merchant ships Sparta, Sparta II and tanker General Skobelev accompanied by the assault ships RFS Aleksandr Otrakovskiy and RFS Ivan Gren.
This is very much routine work for the RN but recent Russian maritime activity has increased tensions further, including sending spy ships into the Irish Sea and carrying out sabotage of undersea infrastructure. Although the threat posed by this group is almost nil, it is important to signal to NATO’s adversary that any naval activity will be closely watched at all times.
After transiting English Channel, the ships are continuing into the North Sea. MV Sparta I and MV General Skobelev are expected to reach St Petersburg around 22nd February. Meanwhile, MV Sparta II is heading for the Russian naval base in Baltiysk before heading onward to Kaliningrad. As an international pariah, Russia lacks any friendly ports in the entirety of Europe, meaning that any mechanical failures must be dealt with independently while at sea. Reports have already emerged of technical difficulties affecting the Sparta during both its voyage to Tartus and on this return trip.
Good to see this detailed article, It will help dispel a few posters ridiculous claims on previous articles.
Lack of port raises, question of what they would do if they do have serious problems. Recollection is they refused help with the Kursk. Oil slick is obvious risk. Sinking at a pinch point or while seeking sanctuary in say Plymouth Sound is another. Are munitions still an issue if they did go down?
I don’t think they would ever get to the sound, at that point they are way too close to the subs, FSC and the wharfs. That is way too much of a security risk
What, the UK doesn’t have a Coast Guard or an OPV to escort these ships. I thought the UK had those River class OPV batch 2, what happened to them. It sure looks like the UK needs more OPV’s to guard their coast and free up the frigates to protect their carriers
The batch 2 are deployed overseas. We have 3 OPV at home, which isn’t enough but we have other priorities
Maybe it’s time the UK start cranking out more River class OPV’s. It would free up the Frigates to protect the carriers. The other option is have a nice long chat with the US Coast Guard to see if they can get in on the production lines for the National security Cutter and Fast response cutter
The UK Boarder Force actually has four Damen-derived 4207s which are very similar to the USCG FRC, though at a fraction of the cost (now $100M in the US!). They could be useful to augment the OPVs, but there are too few of them.
So long as Boarder Force are paying their rent. Landlords hate boarders that don’t pay their board and keep.
Can you imagine if the Royal Navy got a version of the USCG’s FRC and UK Boarder forces Damen Stan Patrol 4708 boat. They could have used them for Coastal Patrol duties. Much Like Australia’s who has the Cape class Patrol boats.
Water canons act as a deterrence?
Some T31 may be forward based to replace B2 OPV. In theory they should return to UK to replace B1 OPV but somehow think MOD will take chance to make a few £m.
Makes you wonder why the Royal Navy is not cranking out more River class OPV batch 2’s. It would make sense to crank out more river class OPV’s to guard your home waters. Running your frigates to the ground and not making good use of them is a HUGE waste.
Why do you think in the US, every time a Russian ship get’s close to Alaska, the US dispatch’s a US Coast Guard Cutter, which this case is a National security cutter. If it’s an innocent passage, then a USCG cutter is well suited than a Navy ship.
Maybe the Royal Navy should learn lessons from the USCG and have more low end ships for guarding your EEZ and maybe they should restart the River class OPV batch 2’s.
I wonder if you can help? I want to view the mighty Russian Black Sea fleet, but I’m having trouble renting a glass bottom boat – do you know where I can get one?
Heck, the USCG has the NSC and FRC. Maybe the Royal Navy can make a deal on getting in on the NSC and FRC. An upgunned NSC would be a good General purpose Frigate to guard their EEZ. The FRC can be built in large numbers for the Royal Navy and Royal Navy reserve to use. I can’t see why the Royal Navy can’t make a deal with the USCG to get in on the production line for the NSC and FRC
We don’t have any spare funds with how pants our situation is right now, and crewing is even worse
Maybe stop bringing 3rd world into your country
There was a rivers class OPV there, but the RN decided to make a point by using an OPV, frigate and RFA.
No doubt we can increase the armament on the B2 as seen here.
That’s why I think the Royal Navy should crank out more River class B2 OPV’s. They are more cost effective and they would have more hulls while waiting for the T26 and T 31’s to come online. All while giving the T23’s a break. The More River class OPV’s they have the More they can have a presence mission and guarding their EEZ.
Its not Ford motors.
The warship building facilities are all committed to the current 13 ship frigate orders
With the increasingly desperate situation of the T23 fleet I can see HMS Tyne, Mersey and Severn getting used ever more for this roll
They been shadowing Russian ships for years now. The issue is that they have only a few more years left in them and pulling back the Batch 2 Rivers is an insane waste. Replacing a B1 with a B2 and the B2 with a T31 is effectively spending £350m to replace a home-based OPV worth £35m. The T31s will also cost far more to operate and will still be worse at doing the presence role of the B2 Rivers. We need warships doing the job of warships and OPVs doing the job of OPVs.
But you need OPV’s to protect your home waters. Who’s guarding your EEZ and how many years do you have left in the T23’s. At this point the Royal Navy needs hulls and needs hulls to patrol their home waters.That’s why I think the Royal Navy should look at restarting the River class OPV’s and even talk to the USCG on getting the FRC’s. At least with the FRC’s they can be given to the Royal Navy reserve to patrol the home waters. The River class OPV can be used by the Royal navy to not only patrol their EEZ, but also be used to train crews and officers.
Agreed. I also believe we need to buy some small, cheap OPVs, smaller even than the B1s. Perhaps FRCs would fit the bill, but American cutters tend to be more expensive and require more crew than European equivalents. I’d look to Europe or Australia before the US for designs.
That’s why I think the Royal Navy needs to seriously discussion about restarting the River class OPV production line. With the T23’s running out of time, I think the royal navy needs to have something while waiting for the T-26 and T-31’s to come online. Maybe they can restart production of the River class OPV’s or have a nice talk with the USCG on getting in on the production lines of the NSC and FRC. Heck even the NSC can be used as a GP frigate and the FRC can be their costal patrol boat.
At this point, the Royal Navy is caught in a corner with no way out. They are running the T23 fleet to the ground and with the Limited numbers of OPV’s 3 of which are in their home waters while the other 5 are overseas. Which makes you wonder why the Royal Navy is not building more River class OPV’s to cover for the 5 that are overseas. At least having 6 to cover their home waters while the others are posted overseas would make sense. That’s why in the USCG, their is always an NSC, FRC, WMEC 270/210 on station somewhere. Something the Royal Navy needs to seriously look into.
I always think the Royal Navy could use some FRC’s for coastal patrol work.
W.U.M. Alert.
Oh look another British Liberal who’s okay with his country being a mini pakistan.
Quit trying to sell us the cutters. With the way the world is going, the US looks to be an increasingly unreliable partner.
The way Europe is going these days, American can’t be the worlds police and Europe has to pay their fair share.
Maybe if the European/ English would Man up , instead of becoming Muslim nations , and did the work while pay their fair share, you wouldn’t make such a mindless statement.. think harder
I am a RN veteran, I love to see and hear news articles like this. I feel so sorry when I hear that the Russian ships have no friendly ports to call in for much needed repairs in Europe . How ridiculous to hear this! No matter what conflict they are in we should show some decency in offering a safe haven to get repairs done. Shame on the West’ these are sailors and some times need a safe have to carry out repairs. This is sad and not moral.
I don’t think would be much trouble now Trump is back. Certainly we don’t want a repeat of that disgraceful incident in December in the Med. It was surprising how quickly some media outlets did rush to obfuscate and run interference over the matter; though now we know a good number of them received a stipend from USAID.
You thinking is what marks you out as a sailor and not one of the land based enthusiasts here.
RN= Russian Navy ?
Well for a while they did dock in Portsmouth and Plymouth during the Cold Thaw.
That hard stopped when Mad Vlad started rebuilding the Russian empire. We had to react and show that there were consequences.
You don’t want a warship sitting in a major base soaking up ELINT.
If they did beak down it would be for the SERCO tugs to be sent to help out. I don’t see UK failing to give aid to those in genuine distress. But I do see UK as being hard nosed about playing games.
Exactly and well said. For a brief moment in the 90’s it looked like we could have all been friendly again, we even sent millions to aid their recovery,(just like we did in WW2, Artic Convoys and Aircraft, Arms and all manner of other stuff) then it all went pear shaped when a small bloke with Illusions of Grandeur and fond memories of days of Empire chose to put the wall up again. It amazes me just how these dictators seem to get away with acting this way and cost the lives of so many.
As for “our” actions towards Russian ships, That’s just laughable, they never ask for help, never want to accept help ( Kirsch as an example, many Russian sailors might just have been saved if Putin only accepted our help but instead, he chose to blame the RN for causing the disaster.)
Simple solution ? Well most of us can see the answer.
They didn’t ask for help, although if they where in an emergency I’m sure they would receive it. However, their country is currently conducting an invasion of a sovereign nation and is committing a string of horrific and barbaric acts along the way. Including but not limited to mass rape, mass execution of civilians, torture of POW and the kidnapping of children. Not to mention the substantial amount of provocation and espionage they are conducting around Europe including hear in the UK. So i wouldn’t feel to sorry.
Landing ships are always interesting. Though in today’s risk (litigation!) adverse society here in the West beachings are administratively complicated. But there is no quicker way of emptying a ship of cargo than putting it on the beach. Of course the Ivan Gren’s are assault ships where our last beach-able large hulls were for logistics……..
Sir Lancelot about to eat a snack………
https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down//media/rfa-sir-lancelot.454327/full
Sir Geraint British in the white with blue band trooping livery when operated by the British India Steam Navigation Company for the Royal Army Service Corps.
Shame it is not in colour as it would look lovely.
https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down//media/sir-geraint.452513/full
It is always so feeble troop numbers landing for the investment and most ships cannot be used for other proposes.
I guess that is what is behind Damen Crossover OPV-Fast landing transport.
I don’t think you are looking at the numbers the right way or thinking about Soviet naval infantry doctrine or UK doctrine either.
Nothing delivers mass more easily than that mass moving itself. So if you can muster a force across the border from the objective then so be it. But most of the time your forces have to go somewhere and be built up over time. It took the US over 4 months to build up enough mass to conduct the ground element of GW1. And the majority of that went by sea into ports. The invasion couldn’t have been undertaken if everything had to be flown in; even though the US has aeroplanes that can carry MBT’s in numbers. If you want to move mass you need to use ships. Consider there are 650 MP’s in the HoC. One horse could pull all over those persons in a barge. Bur one horse (power) could move one of the MP’s through the air.
Soviet’s saw naval infantry forces as relative short range capability. Ten or more Rapouche (or similar say Polnocny- lass ) plus other elements would be tasked to land say 50 to 100 miles behind the enemies front lines. That would be a mix of either 100 tanks or 120 BTR’s (plus support elements) that would exploit out to attack the enemy’s rear. That isn’t a small force. There would also probably be landings by the VDV. These ships aren’t comparable to USN amphibious ships designed to carry smalls to the flanks. These landing ships are very much part of a central front thrust.
For the West landing ships are for part of the second wave to carry additional armoured vehicles to support the initial assault and the first tranche of supporting stores. RFA Sir Galahad (1987) could carry 3500 tonnes of stores, what’s that (roughly) 60 LCU loads? Or 60 trips out to sea, time taken to be loaded, trip back to shore to be unload, and repeat. Much more efficient to beach the ship. Tanks can be transferred to LCU at sea but the sea has to be very calm to the point it would never happen.
For Musketeer the RN deployed these landing ships: HMS Anzio, HMS Bastion, HMS Buttress, HMS Citadel, HMS Counterguard, HMS Evan Gibb, HMS Empire Cymric, HMS Empire Cedric, HMS Empire Celtic, HMS Empire Doric, HMS Lofoten, HMS Loftus, HMS Empire Baltic, HMS Portcullis, HMS Parapet, HMS Puncher, HMS Rampart, HMS Ravager, HMS Redoubt, HMS Striker, HMS Reggio, HMS Sallyport, HMS Salerno, HMS Suvla. None of them are going to carry enough to do anything on their own. But have enough of them and something useful can be done.
A picture of the trooper Empire Ken because it is in colour………!
https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/empire-ken.47488/full
My reply has gone to moderation. I think there were a few links in some text I pasted in to the comment.
Why does Iron Duke have a sad face on the top mast?
It is the EO sensor.
Thanks! I didn’t know what it was, but I was pretty sure what it was, wasn’t what I thought it was:)
Haven’t seen this question for many many years now, it’s been a popular talking point now for such a long time !
Nato won’t last a second without us help.worthless.useless.broke and stupid. And those are the good things.
You’ve let migrants overtake your great nation. Idiots
Oh good, another W.U.M turns up.
How does Tiderace show escort besides refuelling?
I’m fascinated that nobody has mentioned the ISO, with windows, on the rear deck of Tyne?
Clearly there for a reason.
Could it be a trial of part of the PODS concept?
Rivers do have cranes…..??
It won’t have been out there for fun.
Nothing so exciting – the cabins on the quarterdeck of HMS Tyne are used by navigation officers under training.
It is one of the few bright signs to me that navigators are still taken to sea and that training isn’t farmed out to a company in the Midlands and undertaken virtually.