HMS Duncan joins HMS Prince of Wales ahead of Nato's Exercise Dynamic Mongoose

A Type 45 destroyer has joined one of the Royal Navy's two aircraft carriers ahead of Exercise Dynamic Mongoose, a Nato exercise in the North Atlantic.

HMS Duncan, last seen training to defend herself from a barrage of drones, missiles and aircraft off the coast of Wales in February, will be taking part in the alliance's premier anti-submarine exercise in Northern Europe that focuses on training allied forces to detect, track and counter conventional submarines. 

It comes after HMS Prince of Wales loaded up with ammunition and took on supplies at the Glen Mallan jetty in Loch Long, before departing and heading for Nordic waters.

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"Keeping watch in the northern seas. HMS Duncan has joined HMS Prince of Wales, providing protection as we prepare for future Nato-SNMG1 tasking," HMS Duncan said in a post on X. 

"Ready, focused, and delivering at sea."

Ex Dynamic Mongoose, which starts in five days, will see submarines, surface and aircraft deal with intense multi-threat scenarios. 

These exercises come ahead of the deployment of a Carrier Strike Group (CSG) under Operation Firecrest to the North Atlantic and the High North, led by the Royal Navy's flagship.  

The CSG will work with the US, Canada and other Nato allies after the Ministry of Defence said that incidents of Russian vessels threatening UK waters have increased by a third in the last two years and that submarine activity in the North Atlantic is now back to the same levels as the Cold War era.

"As a Type 45 destroyer, HMS Duncan brings world-class air defence capability to the Carrier Strike Group, providing essential protection to HMS Prince of Wales and other high-value units," HMS Duncan's Commanding Officer, Commander James Mitchell, said.

"Training alongside our allies in the North Atlantic and High North strengthens our ability to operate as an integrated and resilient force."

The vessels' movement is an indication of the region's importance to the UK, given that the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said the security of the High North and the North Atlantic "depends on our ability to act together with allies", permanently at pace.

Gen Sir Gwyn's remarks were made ahead of a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force's (JEF) naval chiefs in Whitehall at the tail end of last month.