There were tears of joy in Plymouth on Friday after sailors aboard the HMS Montrose completed a mammoth drugs mission and returned to UK shores in time to reunite with their families for Christmas.
HMS Montrose docked in Devonport, Plymouth on Friday after patrolling the water of the Gulf, Indian Ocean and Red Sea for the past three-and-half years, netting 16 tonnes of narcotics worth £80 million in the process.
Her crew was part of a Royal Navy mission to tackle criminal and terrorist activity as well as providing protection to merchant vessels.
Families and loved ones lined the dock to watch the vessel arrive, many carrying signs or banners to welcome its sailors home.
One sailor was visibly emotional as he picked up his young child and hugged him, juggling teddy bears and a rose given to him on his arrival
Sailors wave to the crowds of people waiting for their arrival back in Plymouth as they approach the UK shore
Union Jack flags were pictured as sailors swept their children into their arms and kissed partners and family members.
One huge banner reading ‘Welcome home Kieran’ was pictured next to a family proudly displaying the Scottish flag.
Among the excitement and tears of joy, there were plenty of hugs and kisses when family and sailors finally met.
This included for the ship’s Commanding Officer, Commander Claire Thompson.
She said: ‘I missed my husband though he did have a quick trip out to Malta to see me.
‘One of my petty officers said to me he would be crying like a baby at the homecoming.
‘We’ve all be focussed on Friday December 16 and I for one just want to get home for Christmas.
‘I will be down the gangway first and my husband had better be there to meet me.’
A sailor smiles as he holds a young child who is well wrapped up from the cold on Friday
Many of those waiting at the dockside on Friday has homemade banners or flags to greet their loved ones
Sailors are given teddy bears by family members and friends as they celebrated coming home for Christmas
Sailors embraced their family members after a mammoth mission at sea
The mission smashed through previous Navy records after a huge haul of 870kg of crystal meth was discovered in a single boat in the Arabian sea.
The find in October was the fifth narcotics raid of the year for HMS Montrose and was worth an estimated £15.5 million.
HMS Montrose targeted the small vessel after the ship’s Wildcat helicopter tracked the movements of the suspect boat.
A boarding party of Royal Marines searched the vessel and found 870kg of crystal methamphetamine in a secret compartment during the six-hour operation.
It easily surpassed the previous record haul from 2019, when HMS Defender found 131kg of crystal meth from a dhow sailing in the Gulf of Oman.
HMS Montrose, which has been based in the Middle East since 2019, has intercepted narcotics worth nearly £47 million this year alone.
HMS Montrose (pictured is her team of sailors and Royal Marines) seized a record-breaking £15.5 million worth of drugs (bottom centre) from a dhow in the Arabian Sea in its fifth narcotics raid this year
A boarding party of Royal Marines (pictured boarding the suspect dhow) searched the vessel and found 870kg of crystal methamphetamine in a secret compartment in a six-hour operation
The haul (pictured being accounted and tested for) had a record-breaking wholesale value of £15.5 million, according to the National Crime Agency
Commander Thompson said at the time of the raid: ‘We have disrupted the unlawful use of the oceans.
‘A seizure of this size will deal a huge blow to the criminal or terrorist gangs using these illegal narcotics to fund their activity.
‘This success proves we will persistently deny criminals the freedom to conduct their illegal activity on the high seas.
‘Disrupting terrorist organisations, criminals and their funding lines is key to keeping to UK, and rest of the world, safe.
‘It is a privilege to command HMS Montrose and the incredibly professional, highly-trained and dedicated personnel that I have on my team.
‘I could not be prouder of each and every one of them.’
A Royal Navy spokesman added: ‘The mission has been key to the UK’s and international prosperity and security, safeguarding merchant shipping, tackling criminal and terrorist activity including smuggling arms and drugs and working with allies across the region.’
