| HMS Medway (P223) | |
|---|---|
| Ship country |
 United Kingdom |
| Class and type | River Class Patrol Vessel |
| Name | HMS Medway (P223) |
| Namesake | River Medway |
| Owner |
 Royal Navy |
| Operator |
Royal Navy |
| Port of registry | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Ordered | 2013 |
| Awarded | 2015 |
| Builder | BAE Systems Naval Ships |
| Laid down | 8 June 2015 |
| Launched | 23 August 2017 |
| Sponsored | Wendy Fallon |
| Christened | 20 October 2017 |
| Homeport | HMNB Portsmouth |
HMS Medway is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel for the British Royal Navy. Named after the River Medway in Kent, she will be the second Batch 2 River-class vessel to commission.
Construction[]
On 6 November 2013 it was announced that the Royal Navy had signed an Agreement in Principle to build three new offshore patrol vessels, based on the River-class design, at a fixed price of £348 million including spares and support. In August 2014, BAE Systems signed the contract to build the ships on the Clyde in Scotland. The Ministry of Defence stated that the Batch 2 ships are capable of being used for constabulary duties such as "counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling operations". According to BAE Systems, the vessels are designed to deploy globally, conducting anti-piracy, counter-terrorism and anti-smuggling tasks currently conducted by frigates and destroyers.
Medway includes some 29 modifications and enhancements over the Amazonas-class corvette built by BAE Systems for the Brazilian Navy.[1]
Steel was cut, marking the start of construction of Medway on 8 June 2015 at BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow. Rather than being launched in the traditional manner, Medway was rolled onto a semi-submersible barge and lowered into the water on 23 August 2017, and was officially named a few weeks later on 20 October 2017.[2] Builders sea trials started on 9 November 2018. On 11 December 2018 the ship completed her sea trials and on 5 March 2019 was handed over to the Royal Navy.[3]
References[]
- ↑ "Patrol Craft:Written question - 210211 - UK Parliament". http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-10-13/210211/. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
- ↑ "Make way for Medway as second new patrol ship is named". Royal Navy. 20 October 2017. https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2017/october/20/171020-medway-named. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ↑ "Medway makes headway as new patrol ship completes sea trials". 11 December 2018. https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2018/december/11/181211-medway-sea-trials. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
External links[]
The original article can be found at HMS Medway (P223) and the edit history here.