PLYMOUTH-based Royal Navy warship HMS Monmouth has completed another milestone in her upgrade, with the crew moving back on board to plan for her return to the operational fleet.

HMS Monmouth, known informally as the ‘Black Duke’ after James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, marked the occasion by marching the short distance from their temporary land-base in Devonport Dockyard to the ship after being addressed on the jetty by the captain.

The commanding officer, Commander Philip Tilden, said to his ship’s company: “This marks the beginning of a new and significant chapter in the ship’s life, but more importantly this event could not have been possible without the enormous effort and expertise of both our industrial partners and the ship’s company. Our focus will now be getting to sea and returning to operations as soon as we possibly can.”

Before going on board, Cdr Tilden presented an award to Mark Knight, a Senior Support Engineer of Babcock , who was recognised for his skill and dedication in helping get HMS Monmouth to this stage of her refit.

Babcock Project Manager, Jim Hart f, said: “This is generally a very difficult period of any refit, and with his proactive and positive attitude, Mark has made a significant contribution to the project achieving this key milestone.”

He added: “It has been a huge effort from all the team, including ship staff, our support centres and sub-contractors, in achieving this milestone. However there is still much work and many challenges ahead of us to enable the ship to go to sea, as planned.”

HMS Monmouth entered refit with Babcock at the beginning of 2014 and has seen a significant amount of structural work to her superstructure, which has included approximately 17 tonnes of new steel covering an area of 220 square metres and over 1.1km.

The ship’s newest joiner Engineering Technician Callum Mellors, 21, from Mansfield, said: “It’s great to finally move on board my first ship, having just completed my training. I can’t wait to finally put what I have learnt into practice and get to sea for the first time.”

The focus will now move to regenerating the engines, as well trialling the latest updates to her weapons and computer systems; including the new Type 997 medium range radar, 4.5-inch and 30-mm guns and Seawolf missile system.

On completion of the refit in Devonport the ship will return to sea to conduct trials. The latter part of the year will be spent undertaking training and endorsement.

HMS Monmouth returned last year from a seven-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf deterring piracy and other illegal activities, and spent the Autumn in UK waters conducting Maritime Security operations. More information on HMS Monmouth is available at:www.royalnavy.mod.uk/hmsmonmouth