HMS Monmouth (F235)

Monmouth visited Wellington in June 1995 in company with RFA Brambleleaf, the first UK or US warship to visit New Zealand since the 1985 ANZUS dispute. Another "first" followed in 1999 as Monmouth became the first major Royal Navy vessel to visit Dublin since the 1960s.

In October 1997, Monmouth, in company with RFA Orangeleaf and French frigate Surcouf stood by off Pointe Noire in West Africa on Operation Kingfisher - in readiness for evacuation during the deteriorating political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[4]

On 11 February 1998, Monmouth was ordered to stand by off Sierra Leone as part of Operation Resilient to provide humanitarian assistance during the Civil War in the region.

In early 2004 the ship was assigned to the Atlantic Patrol Task North. Between 2004 and 2006 she was commanded by Jerry Kyd. In 2006 Monmouth underwent operational sea training, conducted by Flag Officer Sea Training, in which she spent six weeks fighting off staged attacks by ships and submarines.

Monmouth returned to berth at her home port HMNB Devonport on 3 December 2007 having completed a circumnavigation of the globe, visiting Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii and taking part in a FPDA Exercise.

In 2008 she went into refit and in 2009 deployed to the Gulf, returning in April 2010.

On 27 May 2010, she escorted the fleet of "little ships" commemorating the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk on 27 May – 4 June 1940 of approximately 340,000 British and French soldiers, and one of the most celebrated military events in British history.

Monmouth spent June 2011 in the Indian Ocean patrolling the waters off Somalia as part of the ongoing multi-national anti-piracy operations in the region. The deployment also saw her spend some time in Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles where she took part in the islands' Independence celebrations.[5]

In February 2012, Monmouth began a six-week refit period at Devonport's frigate shed, following on from a seven-month deployment in the Indian Ocean which began in 2011. For the refit, the ship was taken out of the water into an enclosed dry-dock.[6]

In May 2013, she returned to her home port after a seven-month mission to the Gulf.[7] Monmouth also hosted an International Principal Warfare Officer's course in 2013.[8] She participated in Exercise Joint Warrior 2013.[9] From October 2013, Monmouth was operating in home waters as the Fleet Ready Escort.

In June 2015, Monmouth emerged from an 18 month refit in Devonport for sea trials[10] and made her first ever visit to Hamburg in December.[11]

In February 2016, Monmouth and her sister HMS Iron Duke participated in NATO exercise Dynamic Guard in Norwegian waters.[12] In August, Monmouth, in company with HMS Tyne and RFA Argus, anchored off Bournemouth for the town's annual air festival.[13] By September, she was exercising in Canadian waters and was involved in the rescue of an injured Canadian fisherman 100 miles east of Nova Scotia.[14]

In March 2017, Monmouth sailed from Devonport to relieve HMS Daring in the Gulf;[15] in May she was participating in Combined Task Force 150 when they stopped and searched a fishing boat in the Indian Ocean discovering 455 kg of cannabis and 266 kg of heroin.[16][17]

In June 2017, Monmouth's Wildcat rescued a crewman from the sunken merchant tanker Rama 2 and transferred them to RFA Cardigan Bay for treatment.[18] She returned to the UK in time for Christmas 2017.[19]

Monmouth was deployed on 23 August 2018 from Plymouth as escort for HMS Queen Elizabeth, as she sailed to the eastern seaboard of the United States for 'Westlant 18', during which the carrier conducted F-35 Lightning II flying trials. The task group consisted of RFA Tiderace and possibly a Royal Navy submarine [20][21] HMS Monmouth's Wildcat HMA2 helicopter, nicknamed "Blackjack" of 213 Flight, 815 NAS, became the first Wildcat to land aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth on 3 September 2018.[22]

The ship prepared to go into refit in early 2019, and her ship’s company became the Starboard crew of sister ship HMS Montrose which is forward-deployed to Bahrain until 2022.