After a relatively quiet period in West India Dock, we welcome the return of the HMS St Albans who last visited in July 2015.
HMS St Albans is the 16th and last of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates to be built and was launched on 6 May 2000. Constructed by BAE Systems at Scotstoun, she was delivered to the Royal Navy in November 2001. She is based in Portsmouth. The St Albans has a length of 133 m (436 ft 4 in) , Beam: 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) , Draught: 7.3 m (23 ft 9 in) with a crew of around 185 .
The ship has had an interesting history, in 2006, she picked up 243 evacuees from the dock in Beirut and safely transported them to Cyprus.
Like many Royal Navy ships she has been deployed around the world included supporting international efforts in tackling piracy, illegal trafficking, and smuggling.
In May 2013 she was handed over to BAe Systems for her refit in Portsmouth Harbour, where she remained until 2014. After intense trials she rejoined the fleet.
More recently, in January 2017 she escorted the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov carrier task group through the Channel.
The St Albans is on a four day visit to West India Dock, last time the ship was open for the public to visit, however the ships plans are not known at this stage.
