UK — HMS Kent sails after major upgrade

Roy­al Navy war­ship HMS Kent returned to her Portsmouth home in Decem­ber fol­low­ing a year-long, £24m upgrade in Rosyth, Scot­land, which saw major improve­ments to her sys­tems and equip­ment.

Roy­al Navy frigate HMS Kent returns to Portsmouth fol­low­ing a £24m upgrade in Scot­land [Pic­ture: Lead­ing Air­man (Pho­tog­ra­ph­er) Kei­th Mor­gan, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011] Source: Min­istry of Defence, UK Click to enlarge

HMS Kent has ben­e­fit­ed from an over­haul of all her hull, upper deck and her com­plex weapons sys­tems. Key upgrades include a new 4.5‑inch (114mm) medi­um-range gun plus new 30mm close-range guns on her port and star­board sides. 

She has also had a new com­mand sys­tem, tar­get con­trol radars and new towed array sonar fit­ted. The sonar gives the ves­sel phe­nom­e­nal capa­bil­i­ty and makes her a world-lead­ing anti-sub­ma­rine war­fare platform. 

Since the 180-strong ship’s com­pa­ny moved back on board in Sep­tem­ber they have com­plet­ed an exten­sive num­ber of engi­neer­ing, equip­ment and man­pow­er tests and tri­als in prepa­ra­tion to return to sea. 

On leav­ing Rosyth, HMS Kent con­duct­ed inspec­tions, exer­cis­es and tri­als off the east coast of Scot­land to put her new sys­tems and equip­ment to the test. 

Her Com­mand­ing Offi­cer, Com­man­der Ben Rip­ley, said: 

“It is a great hon­our to bring HMS Kent back to her home port of Portsmouth. The crew have worked for many months away from home, some for over a year, and our return today is a poignant moment for those who have seen her through the entire refit process. 

“The ship was for­tu­nate to have had an excel­lent engi­neer­ing refit with Bab­cock in Rosyth and our return to Portsmouth, on time and on bud­get, shows how the Roy­al Navy and British indus­try can work suc­cess­ful­ly togeth­er to a com­mon purpose.” 

HMS Kent will for­mal­ly rejoin the fleet after under­tak­ing fur­ther sea trials. 

Press release
Min­istry of Defence, UK 

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