Experts from our Exports and Sales team, formerly known as Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA), have sold Type 23 frigate, HMS Monmouth, to Turkey for recycling.

Having sailed across the world for 28 years, she was beyond her intended lifespan, making her uneconomical to repair, needing a time-consuming and costly refit to remain in service.

The sale of the ship was advertised by the DE&S team for recycling only. With a focus on sustainability, the team specialises in the responsible disposal of vehicles, vessels and equipment no longer needed by UK Armed Forces.

Expressions of interest were requested from recycling yards on a European list of ship recycling facilities and, after a robust tender process and evaluation, ship recycling company Leyal Gemi Sokum Sanayi Ve Ticaret Ltd Sti were awarded the contract.

Richard Whalley, Head of the Exports and Sales team at DE&S who served as a Lieutenant in HMS Monmouth for her first commission, said:

“It is always a sad day when you see a ship that was a significant part of your life heading for disposal but I am happy at least that the sale of HMS Monmouth for recycling in Turkey will provide an ethical and responsible method of recovering metals and other valuable assets which provides a financial return for the Royal Navy. A fitting end for a ship that has served the nation well.”

Originally commissioned in 1993 as a Cold War submarine hunter, HMS Monmouth was nicknamed the ‘Black Duke’. During her service, HMS Monmouth helped to provide humanitarian aid during the Sierra Leone Civil War and hunted pirates off the Somalian coast.

She was deployed across the world including the Antarctic, a circumnavigation across the globe, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. She was briefly used as a harbour training ship but her last major deployment was in 2018 when she accompanied HMS Queen Elizabeth to the USA.

HMS Monmouth was taken out of service on 30 June 2021 after being stripped of her weapons and sensors. She left Portsmouth harbour on 3 April 2025 to be towed to her final destination.

Type 23 frigates are known as the Duke class because they are named after British Dukes. The first, HMS Norfolk, was commissioned in 1989, with the sixteenth, HMS St Albans, commissioned in June 2002. HMS Monmouth was the sixth in class.

Eight new Type 26 frigates, known as the City class, currently being built by BAE Systems in its Govan and Scotstoun shipyards in Glasgow will replace the Anti-Submarine Warfare retiring Type 23 fleet.

The Type 26s, procured and being delivered by DE&S, will be flexible and advanced warships with the primary purpose of Anti-Submarine Warfare, protecting the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and Carrier Strike Group.

The Type 26 contract sustains approximately 6,000 jobs across the UK maritime supply chain, including 2,000 in Glasgow. More than 100 UK suppliers have been contracted for the programme.

Additionally, five T31s, known as the Inspiration Class, are also being built and integrated at Babcock’s Rosyth facility, in Scotland and these will replace five general purpose T23 frigates as they come out of service.

The T31 programme, also procured and delivered by DE&S, supports around 2,500 jobs in total, including 1,250 jobs across the wider UK supply chain.

Type 31s will be flexible and adaptable by design with mission bays to allow them to be re-equipped to fit whatever missions they are tasked to undertake – such as interception and disruption of those using the sea for unlawful purposes, collecting intelligence, conducting defence engagement, and assisting those in need.