UK Royal Navy Destroyer to Join Multinational Naval Force in Red Sea

HMS Diamond – which is currently in the Eastern Mediterranean region – will join a multinational group that includes US, French, and other naval ships, to provide presence and reassurance, and to ensure that international trade continues to flow, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said, in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London. The naval presence, CDS continued, is designed to send a message “that it is unacceptable for merchant ships to be attacked”.

In recent weeks, more than half-a-dozen attacks have been launched by Yemeni-based rebels against merchant shipping sailing in the southern Red Sea. These attacks have occurred in the wake of the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war on 7 October, and have contributed to international concern of wider conflict escalation across the Middle East region. The attacks have included the use of both uncrewed air systems and anti-ship missiles. Three warships have already been involved in responding to these attacks – the US Navy (USN) DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Carney and USS Mason, and the French Navy Aquitaine-class FREMM frigate FS Languedoc. On 4 December, the United States announced it was in active discussions with international partners regarding potential options for establishing a naval task force in the Red Sea region to counter the threat and ensure safe passage for merchant shipping.

Diamond’s deployment demonstrates how naval forces can be employed flexibly in response to changing operational requirements. Diamond was already sailing for the region, following an announcement on 29 November that the ship would head to the Gulf to bolster UK maritime security presence there. Deploying in support of the RN’s Gulf-based Operation ‘Kipion’, Diamond would contribute to RN presence “working to deter escalations from malign and hostile actors who seek to disrupt maritime security”, the RN said in a statement.

Diamond sailed from Portsmouth for the Gulf on 23 November, having only recently been operating in the North and Norwegian seas as part of the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group (CSG) on the RN’s CSG23 deployment. Following a port call in Gibraltar, Diamond’s X (formerly Twitter) social media feed said on 13 December that the ship had completed a period of Fleet Operational Sea Training (FOST) preparation in the Mediterranean Sea and was “ready in all respects for future tasking”.

As regards meeting the intensity of the operational challenge in the Red Sea region, Adm Radakin said:

“We can respond: the answer is that we can send a destroyer there; we also follow that up with ensuring that the destroyer can be re-stocked.”

Discussing the importance of the naval presence in the Red Sea region in relation to wider impact on the Middle East crisis and how the military instrument can be used to deter conflict escalation, CDS said “I think the role of the military instrument at the moment is to try to give time and space for our politicians and diplomats to be able to come up with the political plans that allow a much more substantial response to the conflict.”

Adm Radakin pointed to an “arc of instability stretching from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf of Oman”. It is worth noting that the potential role of naval presence in managing international responses to such instability is reflected in the fact that the USN has deployed a CSG to either end of this arc. The USS Gerald R Ford CSG is currently in the Eastern Mediterranean, while the USS Dwight D Eisenhower CSG is in the Gulf region. From the UK’s perspective, Adm Radakin noted that the UK’s increased military presence across this region, including the deployment of air and naval assets, will enable the UK “to be ready for contingencies, to contribute to relief operations, and to safeguard wider regional stability”.