In pictures: HMS Richmond completes rare transit of the Taiwan Strait
The Royal Navy has released images of HMS Richmond during the ship's transit of the Taiwan Strait on 12 September.
Such a passage is rare; this was only the third transit of a UK ship in the past three years. Richmond had previously transited in 2021, while offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey made the journey in May this year.
The transit was carried out with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Higgins.
These transits are controversial with the Chinese who are highly sensitive to the passage of foreign warships through these straits.
Prior to her transit, the former Navy commander Tom Sharpe told BFBS Forces News that HMS Richmond had a responsibility to make the journey, adding: "The Navy understands that this is about imposing international law."
Images show the pair of ships entering the straits at dawn on 12 September. The crew are shown in their normal daily uniforms carrying out routine activities such as cooking in the galley and cleaning upper deck weapons.
"There'll be a sensible logistical military defence reason to do it. So they'll treat it like any other chokepoint transit," Cdr Sharpe previously said.
"They'll know that there's stuff going on around. They'll have a weather eye on that, on the headlines, and they will have people on radars keeping a close eye out. Of course they will. But really, for them, it's just business as usual."
The ship was in Defence Watches during the transit, which is 50% of the crew on duty at any time. This is normal during exercises, but a higher readiness state than the normal sailing routine.
The ship's Wildcat helicopter is shown at flying stations, and the US destroyer USS Higgins can be seen following Richmond during the transit.
It is unusual for the Royal Navy to release images of a Taiwan Strait transit but, in May, HMS Spey posted images of the ship patrolling close to Chinese-contested islands in the South China Sea.
It is unknown if the ships encountered any Chinese warships during the transit. However, it is believed the new Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian transited the strait southwards on the same day.
Two other ships attached to the UK Carrier Strike Group 2025 deployment, Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane and Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec, also transited the Taiwan Strait on 6 September.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: "HMS Richmond's navigation through the Taiwan Strait was a routine passage as part of Carrier Strike Group 25.
"Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full compliance with international law and norms, and exercises freedom of navigation rights in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."
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