UK deploying frigate to Gulf

The UK is to send a frigate to be “an enduring presence” in the Gulf, in the most serious naval deployment to the region in more than 40 years, the Defence Secretary has announced.

The Royal Navy Type-23 vessel will be based from the UK’S new £40million national support facility at Mina Salman in Bahrain.

Britain has not had a similar posture since 1971, when HMS Juffair in Bahrain was closed following the country’s declaration of independence. Gavin Williamson, speaking during the Sea Power Conference at the Royal United Services Institute, warned “liberty, justice and tolerance are under attack from every angle” and Britain must work with allies to defend common interests.

A Navy spokesman told The Daily Telegraph the Gulf “forward deployment shows the Royal Navy is going back to the principle of being a more reactive and more available force”.

Smaller minehunter vessels have been based in the region for the past 10 years.