United Kingdom Naval Support Facility

The first presence of the Royal Navy in the Persian Gulf came about from the need to control pirates raiding the British Empire ships east of the Gulf of Suez, especially the East India Company routes to India. In the early 1820s the rulers of Bahrain, Salman and Abdullah Al Khalifa, signed an agreement to try and limit piracy in the area. This was strengthened in 1835 through an agreement signed specifically with the Royal Navy, which addressed the need to stop pirates operating in the area, and limit the slave trade. In 1902, the first oil was discovered in the area, but commercial extraction did not begin until 1925, when Frank Holmes was given the first license, with the first oil not exported from Bahrain until 1932.{{Cite web|last=Luscombe|first=Stephen|date=n.d.|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/bahrain.htm|title=Middle East: Bahrain Protectorate|website=BritishEmpire.co.uk|publisher=The British Empire|access-date=2024-12-30}}

File:HMS Jufair Crest.png

After the death of Sheikh Isa in 1932, having handed control of the state in 1921 under British diplomatic pressure to his son Hamad, his advisor Charles Belgrave, with whom he had modernised the state systems and key infrastructure, suggested that they should come to an agreement with the British to open a permanent Royal Navy base within the state. HMS Jufair opened on {{Start date and age|1935|04|13|df=y}}, as part of the port at Mina Salman. During World War II, it was bombed by the Royal Italian Air Force as part of an Axis Forces effort to cut off one of the three Allied Forces sources of oil in the Persian Gulf.{{Cite journal|last=Fiore|first=Massimiliano|date=1 November 2022|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362013304|title=Mission impossible: the Italian air bombing of Bahrain and the British response|journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies|volume=51|issue=4|pages=683–694 |access-date=30 December 2024|doi=10.1080/13530194.2022.2151417|via=ResearchGate.net}}

{{Main|Naval Support Activity Bahrain}}

As a result of the Italian raid, and the United States entry into World War II from December 1941, the Royal Navy extended an invitation to the United States Navy (USN), allowing the USN to deploy a small detachment. Post-World War II, the posting was recognised as the U.S. Middle East Force from 1948, a small shore facility that provided logistical and communications support to Marine Expeditionary vessels.{{Cite web|url=https://cnreurafcent.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NSA-Bahrain/About/History/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102203220/https://cnreurafcent.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NSA-Bahrain/About/History/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 November 2022|title=Naval Support Activity Bahrain – History|website=CNREurAfCent.CNIC.Navy.mil|publisher=Commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central; United States Navy|date=n.d.|access-date=30 December 2024}}

In 1971, with Bahrain gaining independence from the United Kingdom, the permanent Royal Navy presence in Bahrain officially ended. With agreement of the Emir, the USN immediately took on the entire {{Convert|10|acre|m2|abbr=off}} site, and eight years later the base was named Administrative Support Unit (ASU) Bahrain. In 1992, the title was slightly modified to Administrative Support Unit Southwest Asia to better reflect its regional role. In 1995, the United States Fifth Fleet was formed with its headquarters at ASU Bahrain. By 2000, the base had again been renamed; as Naval Support Activity Bahrain, abbreviated NSA Bahrain.{{Cite book|last=Cragg|first=Dan|date=2000|title=Guide to Military Installations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psjn3zHX4hkC|location= |publisher=Stackpole Books|edition=6th|isbn=9780811727815|via=Google Books}}{{Page needed|date=December 2024}}

In December 2014, it was announced that the Royal Navy would be re-opening a permanent naval base east of Suez at Mina Salman Port{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30355953|title=UK to establish £15m permanent Mid East military base|publisher=BBC News|date=6 December 2014|access-date=1 November 2015}} to be called HMS Juffair or Mina Salman Support Facility, with construction starting during October 2015.{{Cite news|url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2015/november/05/151105-foreign-secretary-attends-ceremony-in-bahrain|title=Foreign Secretary attends ceremony for new Royal Navy facility in Bahrain|publisher=Royal Navy|date=5 November 2015|access-date=5 November 2015}} Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt confirmed that while the aircraft carriers would be able to access facilities while at anchor in the vicinity of the Mina Salman port, they would not be able to berth directly alongside the support facility itself due to draught constraints.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-01-04/20811|title=Bahrain: Military Bases: Written question - 20811|publisher=UK Parliament|date=4 January 2016}} On 5 April 2018, the United Kingdom Naval Support Facility (UKNSF) was officially opened by Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Britain's Prince Andrew. The new facility can accommodate up to 500 Royal Navy personnel.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/uk-opens-persian-gulf-naval-base-in-bahrain/2018/04/05/b51e3a48-38d7-11e8-af3c-2123715f78df_story.html|title=UK opens Persian Gulf military base in Bahrain|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405165550/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/uk-opens-persian-gulf-naval-base-in-bahrain/2018/04/05/b51e3a48-38d7-11e8-af3c-2123715f78df_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 April 2018}}

The base is located in an area of Manama (the capital of Bahrain) that is now officially called Juffair ({{Langx|ar|الجفير}}) in the Latin alphabet by the Bahrain government.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mia.gov.bh/kingdom-of-bahrain/map-of-bahrain/?lang=en|title=Map of Bahrain – Ministry of Information | وزارة الاعلام | Kingdom of Bahrain|access-date=8 April 2023}}

UKNSF is the home port for ships deployed as part of Operation Kipion, which is the UK's primary military effort in support of peacekeeping and maritime security in the Gulf region, as well as ensuring the safe flow of oil and trade.{{Cite news|title=Red Sea and Gulf – Operation Kipion|url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/operations/red-sea-and-gulf/operation-kipion|website=RoyalNavy.MoD.uk|publisher=Royal Navy|date=|access-date=2020-06-19}} In addition to ships deployed to the region as part of other deployments, there are a number of vessels permanently stationed in Bahrain to undertake various tasks:

• {{HMS|Lancaster|F229|6}}: a Type 23 frigate forward-deployed on maritime security duties;{{Cite web|url=https://www.navylookout.com/hms-lancaster-sails-for-three-years-forward-deployed-in-the-gulf/|title=HMS Lancaster sails for three years forward-deployed in the Gulf|website=NavyLookout.com|publisher=Navy Lookout|date=13 August 2022|access-date= }}
• 9th Mine Counter-Measures Squadron: {{As of|2025|4|lc=y}}, assigned units included:
• {{HMS|Middleton|M34|6}}
• {{HMS|Bangor|M109|6}}

In February 2023, the autonomous minehunting vessel RNMB Harrier arrived in Bahrain to begin trials of autonomous systems in hot weather. The autonomous vessel operated from RFA Cardigan Bay.{{Cite tweet|url=https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1625210569786593282|title=Autonomous minehunting vessel RNMB Harrier has arrived in Bahrain and will be based on @RFACardiganBay|number=1625210569786593282|user=NavyLookout|date=13 February 2023|access-date=13 February 2023}} As of late 2024, Cardigan Bay returned to the UK for refit{{Cite web|url=https://www.navylookout.com/rfa-cardigan-bay-returns-to-uk-but-no-sailors-available-to-take-her-to-shipyard-for-refit/|title=RFA Cardigan Bay returns to UK but no sailors available to take her to shipyard for refit|website=NavyLookout.com|publisher=Navy Lookout|date=17 September 2024|access-date= }} and acute personnel shortages in the RFA made her return to the Gulf uncertain.{{Cite web|title=HMS Bangor being repaired in Bahrain following damage sustained earlier this year|url=https://www.navylookout.com/hms-bangor-being-repaired-in-bahrain-following-damage-sustained-earlier-this-year/|website=NavyLookout.com|publisher=Navy Lookout|date=9 November 2024|access-date= }}

Initially, the quayside at UKNSF was only accessible to the small mine countermeasures vessels assigned to the base, with larger ships having to be moored at other piers within the Mina Salman port area. In June 2020, a refurbishment of the quay meant that larger vessels, including Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers would be able to utilise the mooring facilities within the UK base itself. The shallow draft of the port continued to preclude very large vessels, such as the Royal Navy's {{Sclass|Queen Elizabeth|aircraft carrier|2}}s, to be able to use the facility itself.{{Cite news|last=Allison|first=George|date=23 June 2020|url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/new-big-ship-jetty-opens-at-british-naval-base-in-bahrain/|title=New 'big ship jetty' opens at British naval base in Bahrain|website=UK Defence Journal|access-date=23 June 2020}}

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{{Royal Navy shore establishments}}

{{British Armed Forces overseas military bases}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jufair}}

Category:Royal Navy shore establishments

Category:Military installations of the United Kingdom in other countries

Category:Military installations of Bahrain

Category:Military installations established in 1935

Category:Bahrain–United Kingdom military relations