HMS Clyde Named

HMS Clyde, the first ship to be built in Portsmouth Naval Base for nearly 40 years, was named in a night ceremony at VT Shipbuilding’s facilities. The Royal Navy’s new 80m. Offshore Patrol Vessel (Helicopter) was named by Mrs Lesley Dunt, wife of Vice Admiral Peter Dunt, Director of Defence Estates. The VIP event was attended by leading figures from the RN and defence industry, along with around 1,000 specially invited guests and VT employees. Dunt smashed the champagne bottle against the hull of the new ship, starting a laser light and firework show. HMS Clyde is the first ship constructed in the Base since 1967 when the Leander Class frigate HMS Andromeda was built. The catalyst for this renaissance in shipbuilding was the move in 2003 of VT Shipbuilding to £50 million state-of-the-art facilities which are among the most advanced in Europe. VT is building sections of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 destroyer at Portsmouth but HMS Clyde is the first complete ship to emerge from the giant assembly halls at the site. The new OPV(H) will be the patrol ship for the Falkland Islands and will be officially accepted by the MOD next month before she is deployed to the South Atlantic next Spring – around the time of the 25th anniversary of the conflict.