HMS Enterprise Is Coming Home After 3 Years At Sea

After 35 months at sea, covering 150,000 nautical miles, 20 countries, and four of the seven seas, HMS Enterprise will return to Devonport in Plymouth today.

During this deployment, the ship and her crew of 78 helped rescue 200 people when the UK government called on British citizens to evacuate Libya at a time of growing unrest.

In 2015, Enterprise joined the Mediterranean naval force which was set up to deal with people smuggling in the region.

Over the course of the following year, the crew destroyed 117 unseaworthy craft and rescued over 9000 people attempting to make deadly crossings - the highest number of people ever to be rescued by a Royal Navy ship.

20 suspected smuggling ringleaders were identified and arrested thanks to the work of HMS Enterprise.

Her crew will be welcomed home by family and friends as she arrives back in Devonport later today.

Minister of State for the Armed Forces Mike Penning said:

"During her three years deployed away from the UK, HMS Enterprise and her ship's company have helped make the world a safer place.

"From disrupting people smuggling in the Mediterranean to assisting in the free flow of trade in the Gulf, and from providing reassurance to our overseas territories to surveying the world's oceans, she has epitomised how the Royal Navy is protecting the UK's global interests."

There is little time to rest for the ship and her crew, as she will deploy again in July.