13 May 2026
A torpedo drops from a Royal Navy submarine-hunting Merlin helicopter during work-up exercises in the Atlantic with frigate HMS Somerset.
Bloodhound on the loose!
The warship resumed patrol duties in April, operating around home waters and in the ocean between the UK and Norway.
Her mission is a standing commitment by the Royal Navy to protect the UK’s nuclear deterrent, monitor submarine activity in the north Atlantic and protect critical undersea cables and pipelines.
The Type-23 frigate specialises in anti-submarine warfare and a powerful weapon in its arsenal is its embarked Merlin Mk2 helicopter.
Menace Flight – including the aircraft and its aircrew and engineers – hail from The Flying Tigers, aka 814 Naval Air Squadron, based at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall.
Ship and helicopter have been working through the flight’s procedures to test and refine their skills and readiness – building up to the release of a TVT: Training Variant Torpedo.
Having located a hostile underwater threat, the Merlin unleashes a Sting Ray (this one crammed with sensors rather than explosive).
A drogue parachute slows the fall of the weapon before detaching as it hits the water and Sting Ray hunts for its prey and the helicopter crew report to Somerset’s operations room: Bloodhound loose – NATO code for a torpedo in the water, serving as a warning to friendly vessels to remain well clear.
Each Merlin has the capacity to carry up to four Sting Ray torpedoes and during the exercise the aircrew returned to the ship to rearm, keeping their aircraft “rotors running”.
Working under pressure from the roar of the Merlin’s three powerful engines and buffeted by the fierce downdraft of the rotor blades overhead, the flight’s air engineers worked swiftly to load a replacement torpedo.
Conducting training such as this allows my teams to maximise their performance. As a squadron and as part of the wider Merlin Helicopter Force, we remain ready and capable to defend the UK.
Commander Ed Holland
Further exercises included day and night in-flight refuelling, undertaken just in case the flight deck should be occupied or out of action, as well as transferring cargo and testing procedures for operating at night.
The commanding officer of 814 Naval Air Squadron, Commander Ed Holland said: “Conducting continuation training builds that essential teamwork between the frigate and the helicopter crews. Together, they offer a potent capability to combat threats both beneath and on the surface of the sea.
“With its suite of radar, sonar, sonobuoys and its ability to carry torpedoes, the Merlin Mk2 is at home in the frigate. Operating in the North Atlantic is essential to safeguard the undersea cables and pipelines that the UK and our allies rely upon.
“The environment can be testing, with high sea states and freezing temperatures, however the ship and aircraft must be able to perform to their very best 24/7, whatever the conditions. Conducting training such as this allows my teams to maximise their performance. As a squadron and as part of the wider Merlin Helicopter Force, we remain ready and capable to defend the UK.”
In addition to the Merlin, the flight also operates a number of reconnaissance drones which can be deployed to extend the range of the warship’s sensors, part of the drive to combine crewed and uncrewed aviation in routine naval duties.
HMS Somerset took over patrol duties from frigate HMS St Albans last month, during a handover which involved escorting a Russian destroyer and support ship as they transited through the English Channel and the North Sea.