HMS ''Middleton'' is a of the British

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 ...

. As of 2021, she forms part of Nine Mine Countermeasures Squadron operating out of

HMS Jufair The United Kingdom Naval Support Facility is a Royal Navy base established in Bahrain on 13 April 1935, as part of the port at Mina Salman. In 1950, the United States Navy leased space in HMS ''Jufair'' and following Bahraini independence in 1971 ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, 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 ...

. The ship was launched by Lord and Lady Blaker in 1983: Lady Blaker remains the patron of the ship.

Operational history

In 2009, ''Middleton'' sailed for the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

for a three-year deployment operating out of

, she returned to

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 ...

on 31 August 2012. In early 2013, ''Middleton'' entered refit in Portsmouth, the work package included replacing her 30-year-old Napier Deltic engines with new more fuel efficient Caterpillar C32 ACERT diesels. Following

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, ''Middleton'' rejoined the fleet in 2014 and took part in that autumn's

Exercise Joint Warrior Exercise Joint Warrior is a major biannual multi-national military exercise which takes place in the United Kingdom, predominately in north west Scotland. It is the successor of the Neptune Warrior exercises and Joint Maritime Course. Joint W ...

off Scotland. On 9 November 2015, ''Middleton'' sailed from Portsmouth for a second three-year deployment in the Persian Gulf. Alongside

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, the two Hunt-class ships form half of the Royal Navy's minehunter force permanently deployed in the region. In 2018, ''Middleton'' returned to the U.K. subsequently undergoing an upgrade to carry the Oceanographic Reconnaissance Combat Architecture (ORCA) system which assists vessels with a higher level of mine detection at greater stand-off distances. In mid-2021, ''Middleton'' returned to the Gulf accompanied by ''HMS Bangor'' to rejoin the other vessels of 9 Mine Countermeasures Squadron operating out of HMS Jufair. ''Middleton'' and ''Bangor'' were to relieve their sister vessels ''HMS Brocklesby'' and ''HMS Shoreham'', which were to return to the U.K..

Affiliations

* Middleton,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

* Pendleton Royal Naval Association, City of Salford * Middleton and

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. Hi ...

Sea Cadets - TS ''Tremadoc Bay'' * Rochdale Sea Cadets - TS ''Frobisher II''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton (M34) Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels 1983 ships