HMS Pembroke to re-join Royal Navy after successful refit at Rosyth

The British Sandown-class minehunter HMS Pembroke is set to re-join the Royal Navy’s fleet after completing a refit at Babcock’s Rosyth dockyard in Fife.

The ship is ready for deployment after the 42-week, £8m refit project was performed by Babcock employees and specialist sub-contractors.

Enhancements to the mine countermeasures vessel (MCMV) include upgrades to the sonar and communications systems and freshwater tanks.

The refit work also included the overhaul of HMS Pembroke’s propulsion systems and generators.

UK Defence Procurement Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “The HMS Pembroke refit is another example of the impressive engineering skills of our Scottish dockyards.

“The upgraded vessel will return to carrying out the vital work of finding and destroying underwater threats and keeping shipping lanes safe. I wish HMS Pembroke and her crew well on their next tasking.”

The MCMV is capable of operating in deep and exposed waters and can identify and destroy mines.

The ship uses specialist mine-clearance divers or the SeaFox remote-controlled underwater vehicle to dispose of the mines.

Following the refit, HMS Pembroke successfully completed sea acceptance trials off the coasts of Scotland and Norway.

The ship will return to HM Naval Base Clyde where she will re-join six sister vessels.

Defence Equipment & Support team leader Nick Fernandes said: “This is a great achievement for Defence Equipment & Support, Babcock and HMS Pembroke’s own crew, whose project management skills and collaborative working demonstrates once again our commitment to continuous improvement.”

The 52.5m-long minehunter has a total range of more than 2,500nm.

The Rosyth dockyard earlier conducted a refit of Pembroke’s sister ship HMS Penzance.