HMS Clyde is an 262.2 ft. offshore patrol vessel for the Royal Navy which has been built by VT Shipbuilding and will be used as the new Falkland Islands patrol ship. The ship marks the renaissance of shipbuilding in Portsmouth Naval Base because it is the first vessel to be built in the Base since the Leander Class frigate HMS Andromeda in May 1967.
HMS Clyde will be named on Thursday, September 7, by Mrs Lesley Dunt, wife of Vice Admiral Peter Dunt, Director of Defence Estates, in a grand ceremony at VT Shipbuilding’s facilities in the Base. The VIP event will be attended by leading officials from the Navy and other key defence industry figures, along with around 1,000 guests from VT and the city of Portsmouth.
The new OPV will be the patrol ship for the Falkland Islands and will be officially accepted by the RN next month before she is employed to the South Atlantic next Spring – around the time of the 25th anniversary of the conflict.
One of the unique features of the ship is that she is owned by VT Group and chartered to the Ministry of Defence for a period of five years. At the end of that period, the MoD can either extend the charter, return the ship or purchase her outright.