HMS ARGYLL Passes Under Tower Bridge After Visit
First visit of warship to capital in 15 years…
HMS Argyll glided under England’s most iconic bridge and down the Thames as the frigate ended a high-profile visit to London. The five-day stay alongside HMS Belfast was the Devonport-based warship’s first visit to the capital since the 1990s.
Outside the control room of England’s most famous bridge, Cdre Martin Atherton raises his cap to bid farewell to the sailors of HMS Argyll.
Just a few seconds earlier, the senior officer – Naval Regional Commander for Eastern England – pressed the button to bring traffic on the London Inner Ring Road to a temporary standstill and lift the bascules of Tower Bridge to allow the Devonport-based frigate to pass.
And thus did the warship’s first visit to the capital in more than 15 years come to an end – and at a far more earthly hour than her arrival.
Argyll came alongside in the small hours of January 15 and berthed next to wartime cruiser HMS Belfast as part of a rolling programme of visits to ports around the UK by Royal Navy warships to give the public an idea of the Senior Service’s equipment, people and the work it does around the globe.
A reception and capability demonstration was held on the day of Argyll’s rival, attended by Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans Anna Soubry, Lord and Lady Levene of Portsoken and Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, Rear Admiral Surface Ships, and other VIPs.
“HMS Argyll did a huge range of work around the world during her last deployment – from training African Navies to conducting counter-piracy operations in the eastern Pacific,” the ship’s Commanding Officer Cdr Paul Hammond told the assembled guests:
“This has shown the versatility and value for money that all Royal Navy frigates provide.”
Among the equipment Argyll was proud to show off, her new Artisan radar – also known as the 997 in Royal Navy parlance.
The frigate is only the second ship in the Fleet to receive the sensor as part of a £100m programme; it can identify a target the size of a cricket or tennis ball moving at three times the speed of sound more than 25 kilometres (15 miles) away.
Aside from VIPs, the ship hosted students from a college in Tottenham, civilians interested in joining the Royal Naval Reserve, and youngsters in the City of London Sea Cadets.
The latter received a comprehensive tour of Argyll, briefs from her ship’s company and the opportunity to meet Cdr Hammond.
“I was a member of Ruislip Sea Cadets throughout my youth and to be able to welcome the members of a Sea Cadet unit on to my frigate in London is extremely gratifying,” said Argyll’s Commanding Officer, who still lives in the capital, these days in Balham.
“I saw the opportunities the Royal Navy offered and the exciting career prospects and the chance to see the world really appealed.
“The variety and challenge of the various roles I have had during my 23-year career kept me motivated and to command a warship is a massive honour. It has always been an ambition of mine to bring a Royal Navy warship into London as a captain.”
On her return to Devonport, the frigate will undergo intensive training to prepare for a deployment to the Caribbean later this year to join the international fight against drug-trafficking, support British territories and citizens and remain on standby to offer help should a hurricane strike.
Source: Royal Navy
HMS ARGYLL was launched at Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow on 8th April 1989
HMS Argyll glided under England’s most iconic bridge and down the Thames as the frigate ended a high-profile visit to London.