HMS Medway (P223)

HMS Medway is a Batch 2 River-class patrol vessel offshore patrol vessel for the Royal Navy. Named after the River Medway in Kent, she was the second Batch 2 River-class vessel to be commissioned and is assigned long-term as Royal Navy guardship in the Caribbean.

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 (more specifically, the larger Amazonas-class corvette derivative) at a fixed price of £348 million, including spares and support. In August 2014, BAE Systems signed a contract to build the ships on the River Clyde. The ships, which were designated Batch 2 of the River class, were to be globally-deployable and capable of carrying out constabulary tasks, such as counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling. As the second ship of the new batch, Medway included some 29 modifications and enhancements over the baseline Amazonas design.

Steel was cut, marking the start of construction of Medway, on 8 June 2015 at BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow. Rather than being launched in the traditional manner, Medway was rolled onto a semi-submersible barge and lowered into the water on 23 August 2017 and was officially named a few weeks later on 20 October 2017. Builder's sea trials began on 9 November 2018 and were completed by 11 December 2018. Her sea trials were completed in only 75 days, a record not seen since World War II. She was then transferred to the Royal Navy on 5 March 2019.

Operational history
Medway was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 19 September 2019. Arriving via her namesake river, her commissioning ceremony took place at the former Royal Navy Chatham Dockyard in Kent with her sponsor, Lady Fallon, the wife of former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon in attendance. In the following month, her first operational tasking saw her escorting a Russian Navy cruiser through the English Channel.

Caribbean


In January 2020, Medway embarked on her first overseas deployment, assigned to Atlantic Patrol Task (North) on long-term guardship duties in the Caribbean. She made a stop for final supplies and fuel in Gibraltar in what was her first visit to the territory. After arriving in the Caribbean, Medway joined Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship RFAUX Argus (A135) to form a task group, offering nearby British Overseas Territories a range of support from disaster relief during the hurricane season to tackling all forms of illicit trafficking. The deployment also coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and both ships were reported to be on standby to offer any support, if required. The Governor of the British Virgin Islands subsequently requested the assistance of Medway in securing the territory's borders in an effort to control the spread of the virus in late September. Mid-September also saw the involvement of Medway in a large counter-narcotics operation in conjunction with Argus, 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines and the United States Coast Guard. The operation led to the seizure of cocaine with a UK street value of £81 million, according to the National Crime Agency.

In October 2022, Medway was involved in another drug seizure. She captured more than 400 kg of cocaine worth an estimated £24m. Three smugglers were detained and the vessel was destroyed. On 6 January 2023, Medway rescued five people from an ocean-going tug in strong winds near Sint Maarten after receiving an SOS message; the tug later sank.

Falklands deployment 2023
In January 2023, Medway temporarily deployed to the Falkland Islands to take over the role of guardship there whilst her sister ship HMS Forth (P222) underwent maintenance. In April, the patrol vessel was operating in the waters off South Georgia on sovereignty protection tasks. In May 2023, the destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33) temporarily replaced Medway on her normal Caribbean tasking.

In September, Medway conducted a search and rescue exercise with civilian-manned helicopters from Bristow Helicopters operating in the Falkland Islands. The ship also exercised with soldiers from 2nd Battalion, the Rifles, comprising the roulement infantry company stationed in the islands.

2023–2024 refit
In November, with the return of Forth to the South Atlantic, Medway began transit to Gibraltar for a maintenance period at the Gibraltar dockyard prior to resuming her patrol duties in the Caribbean. Given the departure of Dauntless from the Caribbean, she was temporarily replaced as Caribbean guardship by her sister ship, HMS Trent (P224). In the later half of April 2024 nearing the end of the refit and maintenance Medway was seen with a new dazzle camouflage paint scheme similar to HMS Tamar (P233) and HMS Spey (P234).