Goodbye HMS Northumberland as decommissioned warship makes final departure

Tim Cooper – 10th September 2026 at 9:00am

Many former crew members will likely shed a tear at the sight of ex-HMS Northumberland being ignominiously towed out of Portsmouth Harbour by a tug.

But this is the fate that awaits almost every Royal Navy warship in the end, with Northumberland expected to end up in Turkey where she will be broken up for scrap.

Perhaps, rather than dwelling on the vessel’s final journey, it is better to remember HMS Northumberland for what she was — and the service she gave.

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A versatile life of service

HMS Northumberland was accepted into Royal Navy service in May 1994 and joined the Devonport Flotilla, where she was based.

Following sea trials and the obligatory FOST work-up training in Plymouth, the ninth Type 23 frigate to enter service began her career undertaking fisheries protection duties around South Georgia and the Falklands.

HMS Northumberland journeyed to the Caribbean for disaster relief duties in 1999.

The ship also seized over two tonnes of cocaine.

After a refit and time working in the Bahamas and Mediterranean, 2008 saw HMS Northumberland deploy to the Indian Ocean. 

She conducted numerous counter-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.

A similar mission was accomplished in 2010.

Further upgrades followed and another stint in the Indian Ocean in 2012.

Deployments in the Med and Gulf came in the following years.

Defending Cornwall was the mission in June 2021 as HMS Northumberland provided security for the G7 summit.

After plenty more productive work, problems emerged in 2024.

Then–defence secretary John Healey confirmed in November 2024 that HMS Northumberland was uneconomical to repair, due to structural damage.

Since then, the ship has been stripped of useful parts and has, for a lot of the last couple of years, languished at the back of Portsmouth Harbour – the traditional place for former warships to wait out their last days.