Britain's 'HMS Diamond' works in tandem with Australian warship 'HMAS Melbourne' east of Suez
The Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond has relieved her sister ship HMS Daring to become the latest Royal Navy warship serving with the 26-nation Combined Maritime Forces, sailing in tandem with Australia's HMAS Melbourne.
The Bahrain-based force directs the work of three distinct task groups of around six warships each, operating from the head of the Gulf to the Red Sea in the west, the shores of India and Pakistan in the east, and the Seychelles in the south - an area of some 2.5 million square miles (6.5 million square kilometres).
The ships allocated to these three task forces – 150 (counter-terrorism/maritime security), 151 (counter-piracy), and 152 (maritime security in the Gulf) – typically operate as 'lone wolves', hundreds of miles away from other vessels assigned to the same force.
The rare link-up between Diamond and the Adelaide Class Melbourne allowed for a series of drills and manoeuvres