HMS ''Spey'' is a Batch 2

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Named after the

River Spey The River Spey () is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom and the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is an important location for the traditions of salmon fishing an ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, she is the eighth

ship to be named ''Spey'' and is the fifth Batch 2 River-class vessel to

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

and is forward deployed long-term to the Indo-Pacific region with her sister ship .

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 BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

signed the contract to build the ships on the Clyde. The

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

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

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s and

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s. A £287m order, for two further ships, and ''Spey'', and support for all five Batch 2 ships, was announced on 8 December 2016. Batch 2 ships such as ''Spey'' include some 29 modifications and enhancements over the built by BAE Systems for the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

. ''Tamar'' and ''Spey'' have further modifications such as carbon dioxide reducing catalytic converters. HMS-SPEY-P234-DES-2019-230-003

''Spey'' was formally named on 3 October 2019. In September 2020, ''Spey'' began the contractor sea trials, and after they were completed, left the Clyde on 28 October for the delivery voyage to Portsmouth.

Operational history

On 7 January 2021, HMS ''Spey'' was handed over to the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. In late spring 2021, ''Spey'' received "dazzle" camouflage in Falmouth in preparation for deploying to the Indo-Pacific region with . ''Spey'' was commissioned into the Royal Navy at her affiliated town, Invergordon on 18 June 2021. On 7 September, ''Spey'' and ''Tamar'' departed Portsmouth to be forward deployed to the Indo-Pacific region for a minimum of five years. On 21 January 2022, ''Spey'' was deployed to

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

as relief aid due to the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. In March a survey by the ship revealed that Henderson Island - part of the

Pitcairn The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islan ...

chain in the south Pacific had been mislocated in a survey in 1937 by . In 2023, ''Spey'' was deployed to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In 2024 ''HMS Spey'' made her inaugural visit to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

following in the wake of ''HMS Tamar'' and anchored in

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

, a strategic port in the Andaman and Nicobar Island groups following exercises conducted with

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

Patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

s. In April, the ship embarked a Puma unmanned air vehicle team from

700 Naval Air Squadron 700 Naval Air Squadron (700 NAS) is a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Maritime Unmanned Air System squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). Known as 700X Naval Air Squadron, where the 'X' is used to designate 'experimental', it is currently the R ...

for operations in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spey River-class patrol vessels Ships built on the River Clyde Ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron of the United Kingdom 2019 ships