NEW-LOOK FOR ROYAL NAVY PATROL VESSEL
03-Jun-2004
Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Dumbarton Castle has
returned home to Portsmouth from an £8m upgrade in
Scotland.
The 22 year-old ship spent nine months in Rosyth being
fitted with three new diesel generators, and a rebuilt
junior rates’ mess. Two new cranes were also fitted
allowing her to carry bigger rigid inflatable seaboats
more suited to the South Atlantic environment where she
serves for months at a time.
Dumbarton Castle will soon embark on sea training off
the west coast of Scotland and will be officially
re-dedicated at a ceremony in Portsmouth on July 16.
Commanding Officer, Lt Cdr John Garratt, said: “The
ship’s company have worked extremely hard, in
conjunction with Babcock Engineering Services who
carried out the refit, to get the ship to the required
standard in a tight schedule.
“She is looking good and performing well and we are very
much looking forward to putting her through her paces
during intensive sea training.”
Marine Engineering Mechanic Jess Owen, of Hilsea,
Portsmouth, said he was particularly impressed with the
new accommodation and recreation areas. “It is more
spacious, allowing more people to socialise and is more
homely – something really important when we are away
from home.”
HMS Dumbarton Castle has a ship’s company of 51 and has
spent half her life as the Falkland Islands patrol
vessel, alternating duties with her sister ship HMS
Leeds Castle.
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