Daring-class Type 45 Destroyer
HMS Defender departed the Ukranian seaport of Odessa at 11am on the 22 June 2021, heading south east for her next port of call, Batumi, on the Georgian coast. As she sailed some 5 miles off the coast of the Crimean peninsula, on the 23 June, she came under the surveillance of two Russian Rubin-class patrol boats and several military aircraft - namely Sukhoi SU-24, Su-27 and SU-30 fighter jets. These continued to shadow the Type 45 and called on the ship to alter course to starboard, away from the Crimean coast; as one Rubin-class approached the port bow turning toward HMS Defender.
The destroyer was able to outpace the smaller vessels and leave them in her wake.
I was very honoured to have been commissioned by the Commanding Officer of HMS Defender to paint this event, known as the Black Sea Incident.