HMS Chiddingfold, a Hunt-class minehunter, has rejoined the Fleet fresh from upkeep in Rosyth, where she was kitted out with a new state-of-the-art mine disposal system called Seafox.

Seafox is a new ‘one-shot’ system which proved its value in the second Gulf War and is now to be fitted to Hunt and Sandown Class minehunters.

It is a mini-submersible about a metre in length with a cable link to relay video picture and sonar details back to the mother ship. This information is then displayed on a console in the operations room.

The submersible comes in two types, an Inspection Round and a Combat Round. The Combat round is a once-only device, employing a one-shot shaped charge to destroy mines once they have been located.

The system is a step forward from the old yellow submersible system, which relied on identifying mines which were then detonated from the ship – a much lengthier process.

Chiddingfold conducted successful trials with the Seafox team in the Kyle of Lochalsh and the Gareloch, Faslane, to ensure the system was up to speed before her Operational Sea Training this month.

Lt Cdr Andrew Stacey, CO of HMS Chiddingfold, said:  “I’m very impressed with Seafox and its operational capability.

“We look forward to conducting the first Seafox live firing later this year and exploring the full capacity of the system in theatre in our forthcoming deployment.”