Crew 'excited' as new £250m warship prepares for sea

It was just "a set of building blocks" one year ago and now it is getting ready for the initial fit out of sensors and weapons, said Lt Cdr Rob Platten.

In a dry-dock in Scotland, the first of the Royal Navy's brand new Type 31 frigates is gradually being prepared for its new home in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Platten is one of the crew of sailors on board HMS Venturer, working out how it will operate.

"It's really getting close and I'm really excited to join the project at this time," he said.

His colleague Cdr Ben Shirley was keen to highlight the cutting edge technology on board, he said: "We're really fortunate that the weapons and the sensors we have are new to service.

"So they're game-changing in terms of the ability to counter the most modern threats."

And the sailors on board HMS Venturer are looking ahead to taking the ship into her home port for the first time.

Shirley said: "First entering Portsmouth with any ship is really special occasion, I was lucky when the Queen Elizabeth did her first date through Portsmouth, I was on the Round Tower and I remember what it felt like, being on that side.

"I'll get the opportunity to do it from the other side and being on the ship, there's nothing quite like it."

Work on HMS Venturer began in April 2022 at Babcock's Rosyth shipyard near Edinburgh, and the vessel has now been moved out of the assembly hall.

While the ship could be handed over to the Royal Navy as early as next year, Babcock chief executive David Lockwood has described reports on potential delivery dates as "speculation".

He said he remained "comfortable" with completing all five frigates by the end of the decade, in line with the original agreement with the Ministry of Defence.

HMS Venturer is the most advanced of five new Type 31 frigates that have been ordered by the Royal Navy and will replace the current crop of Type 23 warships.

The new vessels are substantially larger than their predecessors but they will have a smaller crew - holding 120 personnel compared to the 190 previously.

They have been described as a general purpose frigate and each ship has a price tag of £250m. A budget option compared to the Type 26 anti-submarine frigates being built in Glasgow, that are costing more than £1bn each.

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