In the summer of 1990, HMS "York" was serving on a routine patrol in the Persian Gulf as part of The Armilla Patrol which had been undertaken by a series of Royal Navy warships over many years. On 2 August that year, Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait. Instead of heading off to the Far East and Australia for series of "waving the flag" port visits, she remained on patrol in the Persian Gulf for an extra three months. This period was conducted when at sea mostly on a war-ready footing, involving virtually everyone onboard working Defence Watches (basically six hours on, six off) round the clock.