According to MANA, defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has paid tribute to thousands of personnel involved in the wide range of key tasks that the Navy has been engaged with in 2016. This includes responding to Russian activity in the North Sea, English Channel and North Atlantic, supporting EU and NATO-led operations in the Mediterranean and Aegean, helping safeguard our overseas territories, and taking the fight to Daesh by leading a US Navy task force in the Gulf.