British ships are increasingly moniking Russians in their waters

The Royal Navy warships and helicopters for 21 days in July conducted activities related to tracking Russian ships in the waters around Britain and the North Atlantic. In the first seven months of this year, the number of cases of targeting British forces to such tasks increased by 25 percent compared to the same period of 2025.

In July, a frigate of HMS was directed to observe Russian activity Somerset and HMS patrols Tyne, HMS Merseyand HMS Severn. Ship operations supported Wildcat helicopters with 815 Naval Air Squadron as well as machines Merlin designed to combat submarines. Tasks included both tracking Russian submarines passing near the British Isles and monitoring submarine activity in the North Atlantic.

One Russian ship regularly appearing in this area was a frigate Fearless. Royal Navy points out that the ship has repeatedly passed through the British area of responsibility, escorting tankers from the so-called Russian "shadow float". This means engaging the Russian Navy in the protection of ships carrying cargo on frequent shipping routes, but at the same time forces the British side to react.

Practice shooting at Plymouth

One such case was a practice shooting conducted on July 20 by a frigate Fearless in international waters, about 40 nautical miles south of Plymouth. About this We wrote the incident immediately after its completion.

Before starting a practice shootout, the Russians warned the crew following the frigate patrolman HMS Tyne And they called the British to leave at a safe distance. The ship moved about five nautical miles away, but remained in the area and continued to observe the actions of the Russian frigate. According to information now published by the Royal Navy, his crew was also watching the missile drop sites. While practicing shooting Fearless gave about 20 weapons shots including a 100 mm cannon and 30 mm artillery sets.

Commander HMS Tyne, Lieutnant Commander Sam Fields, pointed out that maintaining a patrol ship in the area and cooperating with allies allowed surveillance of the Russian ship without having to remove from other tasks further Royal Navy units.

HMS Somerset for four months in the North Atlantic

The actions of the frigate type 23 HMS were of a different nature Somersetwhose task was not limited to observing Russian ships passing near Britain. The ship spent four months in the North Atlantic, where it monitored the situation both on the surface of the sea and underwater, taking part in ongoing activities related to the protection of the British nuclear deterrence system and observation of potential submarine activity.

HMS Somerset it operated with on-board submarine detection systems, and the frigate was supported by the Merlin helicopter with 814 Naval Air Squadron, intended for the tasks of the ZOP. The ship returned to Plymouth on 7 August after four months of operations in the North Atlantic, during which it travelled over 24,000 nautical miles.

The commander of the frigate, Commander Matt Millyard, stressed that at that time the crew not only participated in the tracking of submarines, but also co-operated with the forces of other NATO states and the British airport group. Throughout this period, HMS Somerset were also kept high alert to carry out further tasks.

HMS Severn took over tracking Russian frigates

July was intense also for HMS Severn, which was twice directed to observe Russian ships. First, a patrolman followed a frigate. Admiral Grigorovich during its passage east of the French island area of Ushant towards Dover.

A few days later, HMS Severn He again went behind a Russian ship. Between 23 and 26 July, he took over in the North Sea from HMS Mersey frigate tracking task Fearlesswhich escorted the MV tanker VulkanRussian Shadow fleets. The ship sailed from the Baltic through the Kaletań Strait towards Ushant, and a British patrol ship remained near the Russian frigate during this passage.

After escorting Vulcana The Russian frigate changed direction and again headed for Dover. Then HMS Severn and HMS Mersey Once again, they gave each other the task of tracking it, ensuring continuity of observations during the passage through subsequent areas.

Lieutenant Commander Dom Jacobs, temporarily in charge of HMS Severn, stressed that the crew was able to quickly move from readiness tasks to navigation training conducted for the Royal Navy. In his opinion, July activities also demonstrated the versatility of patrolmen of this type, used for both training and tracking of Russian ships passing through the waters surrounding the British Isles.