The HMS Dragon row: why has it taken so long to get a UK destroyer to Cyprus?

The government said a week ago the warship would be deployed but it is still at dock. What is happening?

The pace at which HMS Dragon has been readied for deployment to defend a British military base in Cyprus from attacks by Iran has prompted claims that Britain’s proud naval history has been shamed.

It has been a week since the government said the Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer would be deployed, but it is still at dock and the ship is likely to take another five days or more to reach its destination.

Sources within the Ministry of Defence say that the efforts of those involved in making the destroyer seaworthy in such a time period have been herculean.

The defence secretary, John Healey, told the House of Commons on Monday that navy crews were working “tirelessly, 22 hours a day” and that HMS Dragon would be out to sail within “a couple of days”. It is claimed by those involved that a process that would normally take six weeks has been near completed within six days.

Why was there not a Royal Navy destroyer ready to go?

It can take five days or less for a destroyer that is in a high state of readiness to be ready for deployment from dock, according to experts. HMS Dragon was not in such a state. This time last week, it was on dry dock undergoing scheduled repairs before deployment on a Nato mission. As a result, it was rumoured that HMS Duncan would be the ship sent to Cyprus instead.

Matthew Heaslip, a senior lecturer in naval history at the University of Portsmouth, said that it was probably the poverty of resources that meant that HMS Duncan was needed to stick around the UK for domestic defence.

“Duncan had just done some training exercises, and so may have needed some maintenance of its own,” he said. “But the Iran war is also not the only thing going on in the world right now where you might need air defence in the UK and, quite simply, the UK doesn’t have any air defence other than the Royal Air Force and some short-range missiles. The other year, when a number of dignitaries came into London, they had to put HMS Diamond on to the River Thames, in theory, to provide that air defence. So if you’ve got three of your six destroyers in deep maintenance, and you’ve got three available, you kind of need to have one that’s ready to go in UK waters at any point in time to provide at least nominal coverage.”

Why does it take so long to ready a warship for deployment?

First of all, all the repairs that were scheduled needed to be completed. As HMS Dragon was on a dry dock in Portsmouth, it also needed to be put back into the water, a process called undocking or refloating. Water is introduced into the dock and that process alone can take several hours.

As the water level rises, the destroyer eventually reaches a “critical point” where it begins to lift off the keel blocks that supported its weight. The destroyer is towed backwards out of the dry dock by tugboats. This process can take a day and has to be done with the tidal patterns in mind.

The ship was then sent to the upper harbour ammunitioning facility which is used by the Royal Navy to load missiles, ammunition and supplies on to warships. As HMS Dragon was due to be involved in an entirely different type of mission than initially scheduled, it needed to be modified through significant changes in equipment and weaponry, a process called “re-rolling”. This was made more difficult by the foggy conditions.

Welding work is required to get the systems in place and operational. This included loading up the Sea Viper air defence system, which is capable of simultaneously taking out 16 missiles and drones. Munitions had to be transported from Gosport. The ship must also take on food, fuel and other supplies. About 80 crates of food were boarded on HMS Dragon in recent days. All this is estimated to take five days, although MoD sources said it was done in four.

About 200 personnel are expected to travel with the vessel. The unexpected nature of the deployment means many may have needed to return from leave or training. Given the nature of the mission, there may be special forces involved and the Royal Marines to deploy.

Then there is the paperwork. The ship needs to be certified as fit to deploy. HMS Dragon will be moved from the ammunitioning facility to a berth at Portsmouth docks on Tuesday afternoon, ready to sail.

Was this a seamless operation then?

The union Prospect, which represents tugboat workers and engineers at Portsmouth, has claimed that a new contract with Serco, which runs in-port services for the government, slowed the process. New routine working hours of 9am-5pm on weekdays had made mobilising staff for urgent tasks harder, it was claimed. Both the MoD and Serco deny this.

An MoD spokesperson said: “Staff are stepping up to support the operation, and all requests that have been made to Serco to support the preparation of the ship have been fulfilled.”

Heaslip said that the need to deploy HMS Dragon highlighted the tough position that deep cuts had left the navy in. He said: “A huge amount is being asked of the Royal Navy at this point in time, all of which is defensive. As much as Trump would talk about Britain joining a war in Iran, we don’t have the resources right now to do that.”