HMS MONTROSE initially sailed into the Mediterranean in August with a number of other warships as part of the Response Force Task Group for Cougar 2013, designed to exercise to enhance the Royal Navys skill at operating at long range from land the UK and other support. They then went into the Persian Gulf conducting maritime security and reassurance patrols alongside partner nations in the region; safeguarding the sea lanes of the Middle East.
From there the ship moved into the Persian Gulf as the UKs primary maritime policing patrol in November. A new and unexpected tasking followed when the ship went straight into action when directed into the Eastern Mediterranean to join Operation Recsyr the Danish-led mission to remove chemical weapons from Syria. After arriving off the coast of Syria in mid January, HMS Montrose and a multi-national task group of warships from Denmark and Norway carried out escort and close protection duties of two merchant vessels transporting their toxic cargo out of Syria and through the Mediterranean Sea for destruction elsewhere. The mission also involved close co-ordination and interaction with Russian and Chinese warships operating in the area, a new experience for many of the 200 men and women in the ship.
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