The Sagamore is a key vessel for keeping US bases in Britain stocked up with bombs
A container ship used by the US military to supply its airbases in Britain with bombs docked in south Wales last week, it can be revealed.
The move came as President Trump resumed using RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire to bomb Iran after Andy Burnham granted permission, sparking threats of retaliation from Tehran.
Trump used Fairford extensively to bomb Iran earlier this year during Keir Starmer’s premiership.
The US air force sent so many combat flights from Fairford that its supply of bombs was running low, according to evidence gathered by Declassified and Bloomberg.
Fairford relies on an ammunition depot at Welford – a 30-minute drive from the base – which has its own private junction off the M4 motorway.
Welford has typically been resupplied annually by lorries carrying bomb-laden containers along the M4 from Newport docks in south Wales.
Footage published by the US military showed the MV Sagamore being used for this purpose in 2024, when it delivered dozens of bomb containers in Newport for storage at Welford.
Ship tracking data and an image taken by a local photographer confirms the vessel arrived in Newport on Friday.
It had travelled from Wilhelmshaven in Germany, which is an ammunition transfer port for US forces in Europe.
Prior to this stop, the ship sailed from Sunny Point in the US, which is “the largest military port in the world, and is exclusively used for the transport of live ammunition and explosives” according to the Palestinian Youth Movement.
‘Used to kill people’
When asked why Sagamore docked in Newport last week, there was no response from the British military, the ship’s owners or the dock operators.
A spokesperson from US Transportation Command, the military branch believed to operate the Sagamore, told Declassified: “to protect operational security, we do not discuss military movements or cargo.”
When the Sagamore docked in Newport in 2024 and 2025, both visits took place on a Friday evening and lasted for around 36 hours, similar timings to the 2026 visit.
The Sagamore has such close ties to the US military that it was involved in President Biden’s doomed Gaza aid pier project.
Peter Burt from peace campaign group Fairford Action said: “The resumption of US attacks on Iran means that munitions delivered to Welford US arms store today may be used to kill people in the Middle East tomorrow.
“These bombs are not here to defend this country. The UK acts as a supply depot and refuelling depot for US military forces engaged in reckless and illegal military adventures which destabilise not just the Middle East but the whole world.
“The public totally understand this,” Burt said, referring to a new poll which shows that a majority of Britons oppose allowing the US to use UK bases to attack Iran.
“Campaigns against US wars and the US military presence in the UK are currently growing rapidly in scale,” Burt added, with a demonstration outside Fairford planned for 15 August.
