HMS Lancaster (F229) Royal Navy Ship Tea Coffee Mug Gift

HMS Lancaster (F229) was a **Type 23 Duke-class** frigate of the Royal Navy, known as "The Queen's Frigate" due to the Duke of Lancaster being a subsidiary title of the Sovereign, launched by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990 and commissioned in 1992 as one of the longest-serving vessels in her class. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde, she was a versatile general-purpose warship equipped with Sea Ceptor missiles, a 4.5-inch gun, anti-ship weapons, torpedoes, and a Wildcat helicopter, excelling in maritime security, counter-piracy, drug interdiction, and regional presence operations without the advanced Sonar 2087 fitted to later Type 23s. Forward-deployed to Bahrain since 2022 for Operation Kipion, Lancaster conducted multiple successful narcotics seizures in the Gulf and was first on task in the Red Sea amid heightened threats in 2023. After nearly 35 years of service—far exceeding her designed 18-year lifespan—she arrived in Bahrain for the final time on 5 December 2025, where she was decommissioned and prepared for disposal without returning to the UK. As of early 2026, she is no longer in Royal Navy service.