HMS Dragon Back In Portsmouth After Black Sea Deployment

HMS Dragon has returned home to Portsmouth having left UK waters for the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean in early September.

The deployment has seen the Type 45 Destroyer operate as part of an amphibious task group, alongside HMS Albion and RFA Lyme Bay.

The vessel then broke away from the group to spend almost a month patrolling the Black Sea, also training with Ukrainian, Georgian and Romanian forces in the region.

HMS Dragon carried out tasks while maintaining strict COVID-19 measures, her Commanding Officer, Commander Giles Palin, praising her “reassuring presence” felt among partners and allies.

“HMS Dragon has seen first-hand how favourably our friends in Ukraine, Georgia and Romania view our presence in the region during what is a difficult time given the ongoing pandemic,” Cdr Palin said.

“But HMS Dragon’s actions to preserve freedom of navigation, and deterring any adversaries that would challenge, have been felt much further than regional partners: they are just as crucial to both UK and European security.”

HMS Dragon will now go on to undergo maintenance, before sea training for 2021 commences.

Cover image: Friends and family welcome HMS Dragon back home in Portsmouth (Picture: Royal Navy).