Worry for families as Royal Navy crew sets sail

Worries about Royal Navy personnel being sent to conflict zones in the Middle East will be heightened for their families, a charity boss has said.

HMS Dragon left its dock in Portsmouth on Tuesday afternoon with the 200 crew leaving loved ones behind in the city as they head to the eastern Mediterranean.

Concerns have been raised for the children of parents or guardians serving in the Royal Navy, who may benefit from routine and normality, Clare Scherer, CEO of the Naval Children's Charity said.

"Deployments are always difficult for families, and obviously, when they're going away into what is effectively a conflict zone, it is even harder," she said.

"There is always a level of worry there. Our Navy are fantastic, and they're trained to do this sort of thing."

The charity aims to support children up to the age of 25 whose parent or guardian serves or previously served in the Royal Navy.

The Type 45 destroyer is on route to join the UK's defensive operations in the Cyprus region.

Its primary role will be protecting RAF Akrotiri, that was hit with an Iranian-made drone earlier this month.

Ms Scherer urged parents to ensure they maintain a healthy dialogue about the war with their children as young people may be anxious about the war.

"It's really important to talk to your children in an age appropriate way," she explained.

"But if you're talking behind closed doors and not giving them information, they will worry more."

She added that parents need to be extra vigilant about children using social media over fears they may consume misinformation about the Middle East conflict.

The UK government has not joined the US and Israel in offensive operations against Iran, but has offered the US use of UK airbases to conduct what it calls defensive strikes against Iranian missiles and launchpads.

But it has faced accusations of not responding to the crisis in the Middle East quickly enough.

The government stressed that it has been positioning military assets in the region since January and has sent more since the conflict began.

Meanwhile, as the warship left Portsmouth Harbour guided by tugs on Tuesday afternoon, Helen Burton was among the hundreds of onlookers who came to watch the destroyer's departure.

She travelled from Nottingham to wave off her son Henry on his first ever deployment and said: "I'm going to scream my head off when he goes past because we're incredibly proud of him."

Portsmouth-based HMS Prince of Wales - one of the UK's two aircraft carriers - has been placed on heightened readiness, with defence sources telling the BBC on Saturday that its crew had been told to be ready to set sail in five days.

However, this was not explicitly for a potential deployment to the eastern Mediterranean and an MoD spokesperson said on Tuesday that the ship's scheduled deployment to the north Atlantic had not changed.

Meanwhile, naval support ship the RFA Lyme Bay has also been placed on "heightened readiness" to be sent to support British nationals in the Middle East if needed.

The auxiliary vessel is equipped with an aviation platform and has medical facilities, meaning she can play a role in evacuations and medical treatment.

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