Sir James Duddridge KCMG, Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, has welcomed the announcement that Essex will be affiliated with HMS Venturer – a new Type 31 frigate, currently under construction in Scotland.
The class of five ships, to be named Venturer, Active, Bulldog, Formidable, and Campbeltown, are all expected to be in service by 2030.
HMS Venturer will be the first Royal Navy ship in thirty years with which Southend will share an affiliation, the last being HMS Ashanti, leaving active service in 1981, which was affiliated with the then town of Southend rather than the county as a whole.
In 2022, Sir James raised the possibility of the city of Southend forming an affiliation with one of the warships currently under construction for the Royal Navy. This was prompted following correspondence with the Essex Submariners’ Association, and Sir James subsequently supported the development of wider affiliation with the county of Essex.
Commenting Sir James said:
“I am really pleased that Essex is to be affiliated with HMS Venturer, and that early discussions around the city of Southend forming an affiliation laid the groundwork.
“As a county, we have played a historic and active part in our country’s maritime tradition. From Southend, where convoys formed off the city’s pier before departure during the Second World War, through Tilbury and up to Harwich, many of Essex’s towns have played a vital part in the Royal Navy’s long and storied history.
"With this affiliation, HMS Venturer will linked to more than 1.8 Million people across the county and I look forward to her commissioning into the Royal Navy."
