Why is the Royal Navy sending HMS Dragon to the Strait of Hormuz?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The UK is providing jets, drones and our only operational Type 45 destroyer – HMS Dragon – as part of a multinational mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Thousands of tankers and cargo ships remain stranded after the Strait was closed at the end of February due to the Iran war.
Defence Secretary John Healey has stressed the deployment is a defensive measure to secure freedom of navigation – but will only be used once a ceasefire is in place.
Will these military assets actually make a difference, and how does the Ministry of Defence operate at a time of such political uncertainty?
Niall is joined by military analyst Professor Michael Clarke to find out more about the mission and the equipment the UK is sending.
For more on HMS Dragon, you can listen to our episode with defence analyst Tom Sharpe here.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:09.7 | The UK is finally deploying to the Strait of Hormuz, and this is why. |
| 0:27.1 | Hello, I'm Beth Rigby. I'm Ruth Davidson and I'm Harriet Harmon. We're the host of electoral dysfunction, the politics podcast you need in your rotation. Especially if you want to |
| 0:32.5 | understand how the May elections are reshaping UK politics. Every week we break down the biggest stories and take you behind the scenes of the major moments. |
| 0:41.3 | And we also have a bit of fun along the way. |
| 0:43.4 | I have lost my sunglasses. |
| 0:45.0 | I left them at the reform petrol station. |
| 0:47.6 | Electoral dysfunction. |
| 0:48.5 | Listen every Friday, wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:57.6 | Hi, everyone. wherever you get your podcasts. Hi everyone, Neil here. |
| 0:59.3 | And today we thought we'd focus on the contribution the UK is making to reopening the |
| 1:03.7 | Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:05.0 | You all know the story by now. |
| 1:06.4 | The US starts a wall with Iran. |
| 1:08.4 | Iran stops oil tankers going through the strait. |
| 1:11.7 | The rest of the world watches as prices go skywards. But when, fingers crossed, a ceasefire is agreed, there will need to be |
| 1:17.2 | some kind of system, some alliance in place to make sure the straight stays open. |
| 1:22.1 | This only makes sense if it's part of a multinational effort. But we're not sure how many |
| 1:25.7 | nations will turn up with their hardware when it matters. We've now learned the detail of the British ship, planes and tech that will soon be in the region, if not already. But what can we actually do? Everything we have in military terms is technically very good, but it's all in the shop window. Take it out of the window. There's nothing in the storeroom behind. Professor Michael Clark is Sky's Defence Analyst. |
| 1:46.8 | Michael, great to see you again. And look, lots to talk about in terms of the stuff that we are going to send to the Gulf. |
| 1:54.1 | But this does feel like quite a significant moment for the region, of course. |
| 1:58.3 | But actually, for our military as well, we're going to see what they can do. Yes, I mean, after some months of planning and potential coordination between a range of allies, I mean, almost 40 different allies have been involved in the conversations. Now some real ships are turning up. So the French have sent to Charles de Gaulle, the aircraft carry, which is a very powerful ship, and HMS Dragon, the British destroyer, |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 4 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sky News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sky News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.