Missile event in Hebrides area, United Kingdom on Fri 25th September 2026

Decommissioned US Navy frigate sunk off Scotland during joint exercise 
Air and surface strikes sent the decommissioned frigate to a depth of about 1,800 metres. An underwater survey was planned to assess the wreck. 

US and UK forces concluded Exercise Atlantic Thunder 26 with the live-fire sinking of a decommissioned US Navy frigate in the Hebrides Range off Scotland on Friday, September 25. 

Coordinated air and surface strikes sent the 4,100-ton ex-USS Klakring to the seabed in approximately 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) of water. The target was about 150 nautical miles off the north-west coast of Scotland.

The exercise held from September 14 to 25 involved the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Ignatius and the Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Massachusetts. The Royal Navy deployed the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland, and the US Air Force and Royal Air Force also participated.

Footage released by US Naval Forces Europe and Africa showed Paul Ignatius launching a missile before ex-Klakring is hit.

US European Command (EUCOM) has outlined plans for an underwater survey of the wreck.

“Uncrewed underwater vehicles will dive into the deep to scan the seabed and see exactly how much damage Allied firepower can do,” EUCOM said in a social media post.

Atlantic Thunder 26 had originally been planned for May 11 to 22 before being postponed by four months. A pre-sail conference took place at Faslane on September 10, four days before the exercise began.

Built by Bath Iron Works, Klakring was commissioned in 1983 and decommissioned in 2013. The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate measured 453 feet (138 metres) long and had been laid up in Philadelphia before its transfer to Scotland.