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US-UK forces sink decommissioned American warship off Scotland in live-fire Atlantic Thunder exercise

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026 · last updated 30 September 2026.

The USS Klakring, a decommissioned 138-metre guided missile frigate, sinks to the North Atlantic floor after taking hits from a missile, a torpedo, and a Naval Strike Missile from HMS Portland in the joint US-Royal Navy…
The USS Klakring, a decommissioned 138-metre guided missile frigate, sinks to the North Atlantic floor after taking hits from a missile, a torpedo, and a Naval Strike Missile from HMS Portland in the joint US-Royal Navy…
The USS Klakring under tow off the Outer Hebrides before the exercise in which it became the first actual target struck by a Sea Venom missile fired live from a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter.
The USS Klakring under tow off the Outer Hebrides before the exercise in which it became the first actual target struck by a Sea Venom missile fired live from a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter.

The USS Klakring, a 138-metre former guided missile frigate decommissioned in 2013, has been sent to the seabed 170 miles off the Outer Hebrides in a joint US-Royal Navy live-firing exercise. The vessel took direct hits from a missile fired by USS Paul Ignatius, a torpedo from USS Massachusetts, and a Naval Strike Missile from HMS Portland before sinking roughly 6,000 feet to the North Atlantic floor. It marked the first time Sea Venom missiles were fired live from a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter against an actual target. The US Navy said the ship underwent a rigorous cleaning process and crews checked for whales and dolphins before firing began.

The USS Klakring was towed from Philadelphia's naval storage facility on 12 August and sailed to Campbeltown, Kintyre, before the exercise.

HMS Portland's Naval Strike Missile approaches supersonic speed and can hit targets over 100 miles away, hugging the sea surface to avoid detection.

The Klakring was named after the naval officer Thomas B Klakring, a three-time US Navy Cross recipient for submarine command in the Second World War.

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