40 NAVY NEWS, JULY 2007
Pivotal role for ‘sloop of war’
● An RAF Victor tanker on the hardstanding of Wideawake airfi eld
on Ascension Island during the Falklands campaign
I
T IS easy to overlook the pivotal role played in the
recovery of the Falklands by a “Sloop of War of the
smaller class” commissioned in 1815.
But without the former stone frigate HMS Ascension,
Operation Corporate might never have got off the ground.
The isolated volcanic outcrop was manned in 1815 by Royal
Marines to deter French attempts to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte,
imprisoned on St Helena 750 miles to the south-east.
And it was the isolated location
of Ascension Island, 1,000 miles
from the African coast, which has
made it such a valuable asset for
the Royal Navy, and others, since.
The island was first recorded
by Portuguese navigator Alphonse
d’Albuquerque on Ascension
Day in 1503, but its bleak, arid
countenance – and the lack of
a natural harbour – put most of abrasive volcanic dust, which
mariners off visiting. rapidly eroded everything from
A spring was discovered in the tyres on vehicles to the inside
1701 in the centre of the island, of jet engines.
and with a permanent garrison It was far from ideal – but it
in place, Ascension became a was a far better bet than
convenient stopping point for St Helena, which had no
shipping heading east and west as airfield at all.
well as north and south. At the beginning of
● A Royal Navy Sea King moves stores at Wideawake Airfi eld; in the
Royal Navy anti-slave trade April 1982 the population
background are three RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft
patrols off West Africa in the early of Ascension was barely
19th Century were resupplied into four figures, all
from Ascension, and with the connected with the
arrival of warplanes, the island various organisations and
maintained its status. companies operating from
Island life
Under a lease arrangement with
the island, including the
marina Ascension Island is a volcanic outcrop rising from close
the UK, America built an airstrip,
BBC, Pan-Am, NASA and
to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to a height of 2,817ft above sea
named Wideawake after a breed of
Cable and Wireless.
level, – the highest point being Green Mountain.
bird found on the island, to act as
The pier at Clarence Bay
There are 44 distinct craters on Ascension, all classified marina
a stopping point for aircraft flying
was the only sea landing,
as dormant – but not extinct. The last major volcanic
into Africa, the Middle East and
and was generally used
● The interior of Ascension Island today, close to ‘Bunk Bed City’, the transit
eruption is believed to have occurred some 600 years ago.
Europe in World War 2 – between
less then once a month
accommodation for passengers delayed en route to and from the Falklands
marina Ascension is a dependency of the British Overseas
1943 and 1945 25,000 planes
because of dangerous and
Territory of St Helena.
passed through
unpredictable sea conditions.
in the world on one day, having chance to pick up essential gear
It lies just south of the equator in the South Atlantic with
The first aircraft to land at
But as the Operation Corporate
achieved more aircraft movements
marina
and re-arrange their manifest by
a population of about 1,100.
the new facility in its strange
Task Group headed out from
than O’Hare Field in Chicago.
calling in for a few days.
Sea level temperatures range between 68ºF and 88ºF.
lunar surroundings was a modest
the UK and Gibraltar into the At its busiest there were 800 air
marina
But Ascension also had an
Ascension is home to the earth tracking station for the
Stringbag from HMS Archer.
Atlantic there was an explosion of movements a day, on an airfield
marina
offensive role, as the base for the
Even long-distance
activity at Ascension, co-ordinated which had been built for around
European Space Agency’s Ariane rocket programme.
RAF’s Operation Black Buck.
communications required a
by Capt Bob McQueen, who won 50 such movements a day.
There are five distinct settlements on Ascension – marina
This saw a Vulcan bomber,
convenient half-way house; at the
widespread praise for his calmness Wideawake was finally living up
Georgetown, the ‘capital’, residential Two Boats, Traveller’s
end of the 19th Century the first
and pragmatism as Commander to its name.
supported by 11 Victor tankers, fly Hill (home to the MOD garrison), cat Hill, the American
underwater cable connecting the
of the newly-designated Forward Much of the activity involved
a 16-hour mission from Wideawake garrison, and various buildings on Green Mountain.
UK and South Africa linked up
Operating Base. trans-shipment of stores and
to bomb the runway at Stanley Green turtles come ashore on Ascension’s beaches to marina
on Ascension, and more recently
To be frank, this unpromising supplies, flown in from the UK
airfield in the Falklands. lay their eggs between January and May – their presence
the American space agency NASA
speck of land became one hell of and passed on south.
Although just one bomb hit caused some disruption to British amphibious exercises
built a tracking station on the a dump, presided over by the tiny Lighters and barges made
the runway, the 8,000-mile raid
in 1982.
island, and the BBC established its but effective Naval Party 1222. Clarence Bay a busy port, and
proved that the RAF’s reach was
It is also a haven for the sooty tern or ‘wideawake’, and marina
short-wave Atlantic Relay Station. At its peak, during the struggle helicopters were constantly aloft
considerable – and there were plenty
sees boobies, Ascension frigate birds, petrels, mynah birds
Wideawake airfield fell into to retake the Falklands, there were – the men of 845 NAS D Flight
in Argentina who suddenly realised
and canaries.
disuse after the war, but the Cold an extra 1,500 people at Ascension shifted 1,562 tons of stores and that they were within range.
marina Ascension is accessible to civilians by air or sea – but
War reignited interest, and the to support the efforts in the South 3,000 passengers in just over three The Vulcan flew 16 hours, and
there is a cost. MOD-charter air-bridge flights from RAF
Americans built up the facility – Atlantic. months. the Victors more than 100 hours
Brize Norton do not come cheap, an APEX return being in
so much so that its runway, almost The airfield, operated by the The bulk of southbound Task
between them.
excess of £1,000, and seats on the eight-and-a-half hour
two miles long, was a designated US, claimed to be the busiest Group ships benefited from the
In all, over 7,000 tons of stores
flight are strictly limited.
emergency landing point for the
and 6,000 passengers passed
marina RMS St Helena steams between Portland and Cape Town,
Space Shuttle.
calling in at Ascension, St Helena and, occasionally Tristan
And as events unfolded in the
Service on Ascension
through during the conflict,
da Cunha. UK to Ascension takes a fortnight.
helicopters were assembled and
South Atlantic over the spring of
There is no public transport on Ascension, nor taxis.marina
1982, the presence of an overseas A SERVICE of commemoration to mark the 25th anniversary of the
equipment fashioned.
The island’s police force consists of four constables, a marina
territory of the UK almost exactly Falklands War has been held on Ascension Island.
Survivors from HMS Sheffield
sergeant and an inspector, all seconded from the St Helena
halfway between the motherland Some 200 islanders and visiting dignitaries were at St Mary’s
and the Atlantic Conveyor, were
force for two-year tours of duty. Ascension is virtually
and the Falklands was of utmost Anglican Church to mark Ascension’s role.
brought there for transport back
crime-free, and is one of the fabled communities where
importance. Canon Clive Duncan, who led the service, focused his prayers
to the UK, and a large party
houses remain unlocked, keys are left in cars, and children
It was tiny, just 35 square miles,
on those who died in the conflict.
of Argentine prisoners of war
can roam in safety.
not far from the Equator, boasting
Following the service the Union Flag was hoisted above captured in South Georgia were From an MOD perspective Ascension is officially part of marina
by a hot, breezy climate.
Ascension’s main village. deposited on Ascension by RFA the Commander British Forces South Atlantic’s empire, and
It had no natural harbour.
Many in the congregation had played a direct role in helping Tidespring, for onward passage by as such is linked firmly to the Falklands
And it was cursed by clouds
British forces reach the Falklands.
air to their homeland.
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