HMS Somerset (F82)
Template:Short description Template:Other ships
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMS 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.
SomersetTemplate:'s home port is HMNB Devonport. The ship has the Freedom of the City of Wells and is also affiliated with the County of Somerset, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, the 2nd and 4th Battalions of The Rifles (inherited from affiliation with the Royal Green Jackets), TS Weston and TS Queen Elizabeth Sea Cadet Units, Downside, Baytree and Helles Schools, Bridgwater College and the Somerset Legion House of The Royal British Legion. The 19th Duke of Somerset takes a keen interest in the ship and is a regular visitor, and the ship also hosted Harry Patch, Simon Weston (in place of Johnson Beharry) and Marcus Trescothick whilst docked at Avonmouth for a remembrance service to launch the 2008 British Legion Poppy Appeal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
She is the first British warship to be fitted with, and to live fire, the Naval Strike Missile.
Operational history
1996–2000
On 2 November 1999, Somerset returned briefly to Sierra Leone to stand by for a possible evacuation of British nationals during a breakdown in the peace talks, though after several days of the talks resumed and Somerset was withdrawn.<ref name=Roberts>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name=ASCG>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
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 Template:HMS as Hudson's flagship, landing platform helicopter Template:HMS, Type 23 frigate Template:HMS and four ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2009, she took part in exercise Bersama Shield with Ocean and Template:RFAux off the Malay Peninsula.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In May 2010 she sailed for Operation Telic, conducting boarding operations and oil platform protection operations in the Persian Gulf.
2011–2021
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 nine months.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She took part in Exercise Joint Warrior 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2015, Somerset took part in the search for the crew of the Cyprus-registered cement carrier Template:MV, which had capsized in the Pentland Firth.<ref name=Orcadian>Template:Cite news</ref>
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On 23 April 2015, with the Border Force cutter Template:Ship, she intercepted the Tanzanian-registered tug Hamal in the North Sea about Template:Convert 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Autumn 2015, she carried out security patrols in support of the European Heads of Government meeting in Malta.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In November 2015, Somerset visited Valencia - the first Royal Navy ship to do so in a number of years.<ref name="NavyNews2015">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="NavyNews2015" /> In December 2015, she returned to port after performing guard duties at the 2015 CHOGM.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2016, as the Template:Ship, a tanker and a tug entered the United Kingdom's exclusive economic zone, they were intercepted and escorted by Somerset.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Somerset was again tasked with escorting a Russian vessel in May 2017 when she monitored the Template:Sclass2 Krasnodar as it transited the English Channel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Somerset was awarded the 'Fleet Frigate Effectiveness Trophy' for 2017. A Royal Navy press release said; "HMS Somerset has been awarded the accolade for being the most successful and versatile of all of the Royal Navy’s frigates, which are widely considered to be the workhorses of the fleet."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Somerset began a major upgrade in November 2018 and officially returned to service in March 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2022–present
In August 2022, it was reported that the ship had suffered a "major systems failure" and had to be docked in Rosyth for investigation and potential repair.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, pursuant to repairs, the frigate was then reported to have returned to sea later the same evening.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> In total, Somerset spent 52 days at sea that year..<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In January 2023, work began on installing Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) on Somerset to replace the Harpoon anti-ship missiles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Somerset was to be the first Royal Navy ship to be fitted with Naval Strike Missiles and the removal of the obsolete Harpoon racks and blast deflectors was completed in January 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, reported "persistent defects" in the ship since she emerged from refit in 2022 forced her back into dry dock on three occasions. As of September 2023, she was again in dry dock with the planned fitting of NSM and the testing of other key systems delayed. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The ship was reported to have returned to sea in October.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> In December, HMS Somerset became the first Royal Navy warship to go to sea with NSM.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> She reportedly suffered a further breakdown in February 2024 delaying both her return to active operations as well as the testing of NSM for deployment with the Royal Navy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2024, it was reported that the ship's post-refit defects had been "finally resolved" and that in July she had returned to sea for a series of trials.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 22 January 2025, the UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, announced that Somerset had been deployed to monitor Russian undersea reconnaissance ship Yantar following her passing through British waters in the North Sea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2025, Somerset conducted the Royal Navy's first live firing of an NSM at the Andøya test range off the Norwegian coast, during Exercise Aegir 25.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Affiliations
- Duchy of Somerset
- The Rifles
- Wells, Somerset
- Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
- Somerset County Council
- Downside School CCF, Somerset
- URNU Bristol