HMS Ledbury now finds herself in waters much further south than she has been operating in over the last month.

After spending some four weeks off the south coast of France, Ledbury has passed through the Strait of Bonafacio between Sardinia and Corsica, sailed close to the volcano of Stromboli, and squeezed through the tight Strait of Messina separating Italy and Sicily.

After a short fuel stop in the Sicilian port of Augusta, Ledbury is now at sea once more for a long stretch of exercises with NATO warships from countries as diverse as Norway, Bulgaria, and the Unites States.

The purpose of this exercise, called Noble Midas, is to prove Ledbury’s ability to conduct minehunting operations alongside in company with other NATO minewarfare units.

At the same time Ledbury and her fellow minehunters will fit into a much bigger maritime picture, involving destroyers, frigates, and submarines, acting as a multinational task force carrying out embargo duties against a pretend rogue state.

Over the next few weeks, Ledbury’s Mine Warfare Department, Bridge teams, Engineers, Gunners, and Clearance Divers will be worked hard as the ship is tasked to complete a a wide range of serials.

AB Priestman, HMS Ledbury’s Tactical Communications specialist, said “The coming few weeks will be hard graft and we have a lot of time at sea on task, but everyone is raring to go and get stuck in.”