She arrived in the region in early April, where her tasks included protecting Iraqi oil platforms as well as patrol duties in the northern Gulf.

[14] During the trip, she provided a diplomatic role by visiting 16 countries, including Algeria, Albania, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lebanon.

By 12 July 2006 she had completed her tour in the Gulf and had begun her long journey back to Portsmouth via the Suez Canal and the eastern Mediterranean.

As a result, the Ministry of Defence announced on 17 July that year that St Albans had been redeployed to assist in Operation Highbrow, the evacuation of British citizens trapped in Lebanon.

[16] After completing her role in the evacuation, she remained on operational stand-by in the vicinity of Beirut for a short time before being resuming her voyage home.

The maintenance programme took place in dry dock, situated in Rosyth, with a skeleton crew of engineers supervising the overhaul of several of the ship's systems.

She left Portsmouth on 1000hrs on 1 February on a deployment including supporting international efforts in "tackling piracy, illegal trafficking, and smuggling.

"[20] Later in that deployment St Albans helped the Iraqi government "protect their oil platforms, and provide security to ensure regional stability".

[20] After completing her tour in the Middle East, she visited Grand Harbour, Malta for four days in July 2010 on her way back to the United Kingdom.

[22] On 1 July 2011, St Albans rescued 13 sailors off the coast of Oman from the stricken tanker MV Pavit, which had spent three days drifting in a heavy storm after losing power.

[25] In March 2012, St Albans visited the Pool of London where she entertained a number of her affiliate organisations and other guests before returning to her home port of Portsmouth to conduct exercises in the Western Approaches.

In June, St Albans visited the home of the German Navy in Kiel, joining in the huge maritime event attended by 50 countries, 2,000 yachts and pleasure craft and more than 5,000 yachtsmen and women.

[28] It fitted her with the all-electric 'Kryten' 4.5" Mod1 gun and the mid-life upgrade to her Sea Wolf missile system together with a wide range of more detailed improvements.

After completing her extensive Flag Officer Sea Training trails, based at Plymouth, she entered West India Dock, London on 7 July 2015 and then sailed back to Portsmouth.

St Albans sailed for a nine-month mission to the Middle East on 27 November 2015, carrying a Merlin HM2 and ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

In January 2017 she escorted the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov along the English Channel on the latter's return voyage from Syria to Kola Bay.