HMS ''Clyde'' (pennant number P257) was an
offshore patrol vessel
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 ...
and was the tenth
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
vessel to carry the name. She was
launched on 14 June 2006 in Portsmouth Naval Base by
VT Group
VT Group is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VT Group was integrated into Babcock International in t ...
shipbuilders in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, England, and is the fourth vessel of the , with a displacement of 2,000 tonnes and a 30 mm
Oerlikon KCB gun in place of the 20 mm gun fitted to ''Tyne'' River-class ships. ''Clyde'' was decommissioned on the 20 December 2019 at
HMNB Portsmouth
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is lo ...
and was returned to her owners at
BAE Systems Maritime - Naval Ships
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
,
although the ship remained under lease from BAE Systems to the Royal Navy until the end of March 2020. In August 2020 ''Clyde'' was transferred to the
Kingdom of Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البØرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...
.
Operational history
![HMS-Clyde Fox-Bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/HMS-Clyde_Fox-Bay.jpg)
''Clyde'' was the first ship built entirely in
Portsmouth Naval base
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is lo ...
for 40 years and has been constructed alongside the bow and superstructure sections for the new
Type 45 destroyer
The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a Ship class, class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for Anti-aircraft warfa ...
s and . She was named in a ceremony on 7 September 2006 as she had not received a traditional launching ceremony.
HMS ''Clyde'' was
commissioned into the Royal Navy in a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval base on 30 January 2007.
After being commissioned into active service ''Clyde'' was sent to the South Atlantic to relieve as the Royal Navy's patrol vessel in the area based in the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
. Unlike predecessors in this role ''Clyde'' stayed in South Atlantic waters, with a contract in place for her to remain in the Falkland Islands until 2018.
In January 2011, the government of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
denied HMS ''Clyde'' access to
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
in solidarity with Argentinian claims over the
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands ( es, Islas Malvinas) is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exe ...
, as
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
had done with the previous September.
On 18 November 2015, ''Clyde'' assisted in the rescue of 347 passengers and crew from the cruise ship ''
Le Boreal
''Le Boreal'' is a cruise ship owned and operated by the French cruise line company Compagnie du Ponant.
It cruises to Antarctica and other places.
Design and description
The vessel is in length, has 132 cabins and suites for 264 passenge ...
'' drifting off the Falkland Islands after an engine room fire. At , it took ''Clyde'' four hours to reach the stricken ship, which was off the north end of
Falkland Sound
The Falkland Sound ( es, Estrecho de San Carlos) is a sea strait in the Falkland Islands. Running southwest-northeast, it separates West and East Falkland.
Name
The sound was named by John Strong in 1690 for Viscount Falkland, the name only l ...
. ''Clyde'' resupplied one of the two larger lifeboats with fuel and took on people from the smaller lifeboats, and then escorted them to Falkland Sound, where they transferred the passengers to ''Le Boreal''s sister ship, .
In January 2017, ''Clyde'' was dry docked in
Simonstown, South Africa for maintenance; her patrol duties were temporarily transferred to survey ship . On 21 September, ''Clyde'' celebrated ten years in the South Atlantic with her only time off station being the maintenance periods in South Africa. In November, ''Clyde'' was redeployed from a patrol of
South Georgia
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east†...
to assist in the search for the missing Argentinian submarine .
End of Royal Navy service
A parliamentary briefing paper released in October 2016 stated that ''Clyde'' would leave service in 2017; however on 24 April 2017, in a written answer to a question raised by
Sir Nicholas Soames, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defence
Harriett Baldwin
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (; born 2 May 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Worcestershire since 2010.
Prior to her parliamentary career, she worked for the investment bank JPMor ...
stated ''Clyde'' would be decommissioned in 2019. ''Clyde'' was due to be replaced by the Batch 2 ship in 2018. However, later than originally planned, ''Forth'' relieved ''Clyde'' in late 2019. ''Clyde'' returned to Portsmouth after an absence 12 years on 20 December 2019 and was decommissioned on the same day.
''Clyde'' was rumoured to be taken over by
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
once the Royal Navy lease expired.
However, this was denied by the
Brazilian Navy
)
, colors= Blue and white
, colors_label= Colors
, march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco''
, mascot=
, equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...
, with BAE Systems taking back possession of the ship at the end of the Royal Navy's lease.
Transfer to Bahrain
![201120-N-PS962-1306](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/201120-N-PS962-1306.jpg)
On 7 August 2020 it was announced in a ceremony held at the
HMNB Portsmouth Naval Base in the
UK, that ''Clyde'' had been transferred to the
Royal Bahrain Naval Force
The Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) (previously known as Bahrain Defense Force, Naval Branch) is the maritime branch of the Bahrain Defence Force. The current Commander of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force is Rear Admiral Mohammed Yousif al-Asam. ...
, with the ship renamed as RBNS ''Al-Zubara''.
The ceremony was held in the presence of the
Bahraini Ambassador to the UK and representatives of
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
.
See also
*
Standing Royal Navy deployments
Standing Royal Navy deployments is a list of operations and commitments undertaken by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy on a worldwide basis. The following list details these commitments and deployments sorted by region and in alphabetical order. Ro ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clyde (P257)
Ships built in Portsmouth
River-class patrol vessels
2006 ships
Ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron of the United Kingdom