According to information published by Portsmouth News on October 5, 2021, the Royal Navy warship, River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent, is bound for the West African coast on a security mission to crack down on pirates and smugglers.
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link
River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent (Picture source: Twitter account of Dakaractu)
The HMS Trent is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel built by BAE Systems for the Royal British Navy. She made her first entry into Portsmouth Harbour on 19 December 2019 and was commissioned on 3 August 2020.
The River class is a class of offshore patrol vessels built primarily for the Royal British Navy. A total of nine were built for the British navy, four Batch 1 and five of the significantly different Batch 2. One Batch 1 (HMS Clyde), which was the Falklands guard-ship, has been decommissioned and sold to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force.
The Batch 2 ships are fundamentally different in appearance and capabilities from the preceding Batch 1. Notable differences include the 90.5 meters (296 ft 11 in) long hull, a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), Merlin-capable flight deck, a displacement of around 2,000 tonnes[ and greatly expanded capacity for accommodating troops. The Batch 2 ships also have a different (full width) superstructure, and a fundamentally different above-water hull form shape (greater bow flare, different & less-pronounced forward knuckle line compared to the Batch 1 ships, lack of the distinctive fwd & aft bulwarks of the Batch 1 vessels).
The HMS Trent is armed with one 30 mm DS30B gun, a ship-protection system made by MSI-Defence Systems consisting of a 30mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II cannon on an automated mount, two General purpose 7.62mm machine guns, and two Miniguns.
