1. Operational history
    1996-2000  2001-2010  2011-Present 

2. Affiliations

3. References

4. External links

HMS Somerset is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the eleventh ship of the class to join the fleet since 1989. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd on the River Clyde, in Scotland and was launched in June 1994 by Lady Elspeth Layard, wife of then 2nd Sea Lord Admiral and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command Admiral Sir Michael Layard. She entered service in 1996. Lady Layard is the ship's sponsor. She is named after the Dukedom of Somerset.

The fourth Somerset to serve in the Royal Navy, she has inherited four battle honours from previous ships of the name; Vigo Bay (1702), Velez Malaga (1704), Louisburg (1758) and Quebec (1759). The previous ships all served during the 18th century and ensured that the name Somerset played a significant part in that period of naval history.

Operational history

1996-2000

2001-2010

In 2007, the first at-sea firing trials of the UK Royal Navy's new 30mm DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun system were completed by Somerset.^[3]

On 18 February 2009, Somerset sailed from Devonport as part of the Taurus 09 deployment under Commander UK Amphibious Task Group, Commodore Peter Hudson. She was joined on this deployment by landing platform dock Bulwark, as Hudson's flagship, landing platform helicopter Ocean, Type 23 frigate Argyll and four ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.^[4]

In June 2009, she took part in exercise Bersama Shield with Ocean and RFA Wave Ruler off the Malay Peninsula.^[5]

In May 2010 she sailed for Operation Telic conducted boarding operations and oil platform protection operations in the Persian Gulf.

2011-Present

On 3 May 2012, she began a refit at the Devonport Royal Dockyard operated by the Babcock International Group. The refit was expected to take 9 months.^[6] She took part in Exercise Joint Warrior 2013.^[7] In January 2015, HMS Somerset took part in the search for the crew of the Cyprus-registered cement carrier {{MV|Cemfjord||2}}, which had capsized in the Pentland Firth.^[8]

On 23 April 2015, with the Border Force cutter Valiant, she intercepted the Tanzanian-registered tug Hamal in the North Sea about 100 miles off Aberdeen, leading to the seizure of more than three tons of cocaine, believed to be at the time the single largest seizure of a Class A drug in the UK.^[9]

In Autumn 2015, she carried out security patrols in support of the European Heads of Government meeting in Malta.^[10]

In November 2015, she visited Valencia - the first Royal Navy ship to do so in a number of years.^[11] While there, she met a delegation led by Juan Carlos Valderrama Zurián, the Central Government Representative for the Valencia region, and hosted a lunch to thank representatives of various Armed Forces charities for their work.^[11] In December 2015, she returned to port after performing guard duties at the 2015 CHOGM.^[12]

In March 2016, as the Russian destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov a tanker and a tug entered the United Kingdom's exclusive economic zone, they were intercepted and escorted by Somerset.^[13]

Affiliations

• Duchy of Somerset
• The Rifles
• Wells, Somerset
• Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
• Somerset County Council
• Downside School CCF, Bath

References

External links

• [https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/the-fighting-arms/surface-fleet/frigates/type-23/hms-somerset Royal Navy HMS Somerset] (royalnavy.mod.uk)

• The Caretakers
• The Carey School
• The carey school
• The Carey Treatment
• The Car Guys
• The Caribbean Cruise Caper
• The Caribbean Pioneer
• The Caribbean Sea
• The Caribbean Times
• The Caribou Show
• The Carillon in Berlin-Tiergarten
• The Car Is On Fire
• The Car Is on Fire
• The Car Is on Fire (album)
• The Car Is On Fire (album)
• The Carl Barks Collection
• The Carl Barks Library
• The Carl D. Bradley
• The Carling
• The Carlisle Group
• The Carlton Draught: Big Ad
• The Carlu
• The Carlu (Toronto)
• The Car Man
• The Car Man (Bourne)