Royal Navy’s Oldest Frontline Warship Celebrates 39th Birthday

The Royal Navy's oldest frontline line warship is celebrating her 39th birthday whilst on minehunting operations in the Gulf.

HMS Ledbury is the second oldest active warship in the Royal Navy's history, after HMS Victory.

She was ordered on 31 March 1977, costing £65 million - equivalent to more than £360 million today - which at the time made her the most expensive ship in the fleet, metre-by-metre.

The Hunt-class vessel took around two years to build and was launched in December 1979.

She later commissioned into the Royal Navy on 11 June 1981.

At the time, HMS Ledbury adopted the traditional techniques of minehunting, using mechanical, magnetic and acoustic methods.

The ship, which has the motto: 'mors mina' ('Death to mines'), could also hunt mines individually using divers to place charges or submersibles.

However, as technology has improved, the machinery and technology sitting within her 60-metre hull has been constantly updated and renewed to adapt to the latest threats.

She now uses sonar technology to locate the mines, and uses either a small submersible or a mine clearance diver to pinpoint, identify and neutralise the explosives.

Lieutenant Commander Matt Ellicott, HMS Ledbury’s Commanding Officer, said: “Her excellent condition and enduring readiness is testament to crews past and present and the supporting engineering organisation in maintaining her material state."

HMS Ledbury served in both Gulf Wars, and has been stationed in Bahrain as part of a UK minehunting flotilla since 2017.

The ship is due to hand over her duties to HMS Chiddingfold, which departed from Portsmouth on Wednesday, before she begins the 6,000-mile journey back to the UK.

Cover image: HMS Ledbury in the Gulf (Picture: Royal Navy).