New Royal Navy Warship Escorts New Russian Patrol Vessel

On Thursday, the Royal Navy warship HMS Forth shadowed a Russian patrol ship as it passed through the English Channel towards Dover. HMS Forth sailed from Liverpool on Sunday after she was activated to meet the Russian patrol ship Vasily Bykov, which was nearing UK waters. 

Forth sailed at high speed and met the Russian patrol ship on Monday afternoon off the coast of western France, ensuring the vessel would be monitored throughout her period of transit through the UK’s area of interest. Forth followed her movements alongside Royal Navy aircraft from the 824 Naval Air Squadron and the 815 Naval Air Squadron.

The deployment comes one week after HMS Forth was officially welcomed to the Royal Navy fleet. Vasily Baskov is also brand new, and both vessels are the first in their respective classes.

After patrols around the UK, Forth is due to be sent to the Falklands at the end of this year to replace HMS Clyde as the islands’ permanent naval guardian.

HMS Forth is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel, built by BAE Systems at its River Clyde yard. The design is based on the Amazonas-class built by BAE for the Brazilian Navy, itself an adaptation of the Royal Navy's original River-class patrol boats. The Royal Navy's aim is to operate Forth’s four sister ships – Medway, Trent, Spey and Tamar – from ports and bases around the globe, providing a constant Royal Navy presence in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Far East.