British frigate escorts 3 Russian ships down the English Channel

During the Christmas period, the Royal Navy kept under constant surveillance a group of Russian ships sailing near the British Isles.

Nearly 200 crew members of the British frigate HMS Somerset were recalled on Christmas Day aboard their vessel docked at the Devonport naval base to set sail on December 27, in order to make their way as quickly as possible to the Russian corvette RFS Soobrazitelny and its 2 support ships, MV Sparta II et MV General Skobelev.

The Russian force was joined in the North Sea from where it was under constant surveillance as it transited the Strait of Pas de Calais and entered the English Channel.

With the difficult weather conditions, with fog in the North Sea and the English Channel, and in addition to visually monitoring the progress of the Russian ships, the HMS Somerset used all its sensors to follow the trio for more than 500 nautical miles.

When the weather cleared, the embarked Merlin helicopter took off to support the mission from the air and take photos of the Russian ships and the HMS Somerset.

Source : Royal Navy