Royal Navy Tracks Russian Warships in a Game of “Cat-and-Mouse”

Days after it came out that a Russian warship had sailed with two sanctioned shadow fleet tankers through the English Channel and North Sea, the Royal Navy confirmed it was tracking the warship as part of its standard monitoring efforts. It was the fifth activation this year for Royal Navy vessels based in Portsmouth to track Russian warships in UK waters.

“Russian warships are increasingly sailing through the English Channel, and every time they do, a Royal Navy vessel will be keeping an eye on them,” said Luke Pollard, UK Minister for the Armed Forces. “I have every confidence, as should the British public, that our Royal Navy will continue to defend our waters and keep our undersea cables safe.”

The corvette Boikiy (2,100 tons displacement), a Steregushchy-class corvette, has drawn special attention and media coverage for its efforts transiting the English Channel. The vessel was commissioned in 2013 and, of late, has been seen on several occasions sailing with merchant ships. The Royal Navy previously reported in March and early May that it tracked the same vessel during transits of the English Channel.

BBC Verify confirmed online open source reports that Boikiy made the most recent transit last weekend concealing its identity. While it notes that it is common for warships to sail without AIS signals, Boikiy was transmitting a generic ID during its transit. BBC quotes an analyst who called the “camouflaging” episode “very, very uncommon.”

 

HMS Trent tracked a Russian frigate as part of a NATO effort (Royal Navy)

 

The Royal Navy reports it had been tracking Boikiy for some time deploying multiple vessels. In May, HMS Tyne tracked the corvette, and last week HMS Duncan picked up the vessel near the southwestern end of the Channel on June 20. BBC reports the corvette was traveling back from West Africa, and a diplomatic visit to Conakry, Guinea, after earlier reports had identified the ship traveling with merchant ships as it passed Gibraltar.

HMS Duncan used its sensors and radar to track Boikiy and the Royal Navy notes that they observed the corvette is now missing an anchor. HMS Mersey assumed the tracking effort off the Isle of Wight on June 21 and followed the corvette, which was with the two tankers until they exited into the North Sea.

Lieutenant Commander Daniel Wardle, Commanding Officer of HMS Mersey, noted it was “routine business for the Royal Navy,” tracking the vessels. 

The Royal Navy also reported that another of its vessels, HMS Trent was tasked to track the Admiral Grigorovich, a 4,000-ton displacement guided missile frigate. The Royal Navy vessel performed the monitoring as a joint effort with NATO, picking up the Russian warship as it passed Gibraltar. They also employed a Wildcat helicopter for the monitoring as they made their way through the English Channel and into the North Sea. HMS Trent was returning to the UK after four years overseas on missions that took it to the Mediterranean, West Africa, and the Caribbean.