24 NAVY NEWS, AUGUST 2007
Before the Caribbean s
cloak falls across the s
Ocean is on anti-drug p
for the traffickers runni
islands. Helen Craven
swing...
ON BOARD the Royal Navy’s largest
White Ensign, bore the flag of the US Coast war in two
warship the White Ensign is lowered.
Guard, as the warship became – albeit briefly – the people are
HMS no longer, Ocean forges her way
US Coast Guard Cutter Ocean, the arrest author- – sometim
ity for JIATF’s anti-narcotics work. be quite di
through the Caribbean waters but no As the aeroplane turned back, the Merlin “But som
one on board pauses to lament her
dropped low to find the boat on the water’s dark circulation
departure from the Fleet.
surface. huge reassu
Orange light bathes intense faces. Officers and
And once in position, the unsuspecting trio And rea
ratings stand, eyes fixed on the radar display as
inside the boat were suddenly caught in the full been suppl
brightly coloured shapes shift position on the
glare of the helicopter’s lights as it hovered along- Not onl
screen. The tense quiet of the ops room is broken
side. during her
by a harsh crackle from the comms.
The horrified smugglers dropped to the deck, regular dru
Hands punch the air, chairs spin, smiles break
scuttling among the drug-bales on their boat, as and the Ca
out – the word from the Merlin helicopter “Bales
the grey Naval Merlin with its general purpose more than
ditched.”
machine gun and Royal Marine sniper flashed well – reas
HMS Ocean is on day two of her third and final
into existence before their eyes. the
anti-drug patrol in the Caribbean.
Inside the helicopter an officer of T
The massive air assault ship is – unlikely as it
the US Coast Guard Law Enforcement ment
seems for her size and girth – on silent prowl in
Detachment signed for them to stop. the f
the waters of the central Caribbean.
And silence reigned in the ops room. th
At the bidding of the anti-narcotics Joint Inter
A crackle.
Agency Task Force (South), the Navy’s largest
A buzz from the headset.
warship is bringing her unique talents to bear
“Bales ditched.”
monitoring the air bridge used by drug-traffickers
And the go-fast fled for shore,
between South America and the Caribbean.
dashing, rushing, weaving for its
And just a few hours earlier, a suspect aircraft
island home as the Merlin, 100 feet
had been picked up as it flew, low, slow and silent,
above the waves, pursued and harried
north to the islands of the Caribbean.
its prey until there was no hope of the
A Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control
drug-runners finding their abandoned ges
helicopter of 854 NAS tracked the aircraft, and
cargo. where
a 700M Merlin was sent ahead to be a silent
The bundles were plucked from the sea by the drew admi
presence.
helicopters of the Fleet Air Arm and the landing The Me
As the equatorial dusk made its sudden shift
craft of the Royal Marines in a night’s work that new helico
from bright day to black night, the Merlin flew in
stretched into first light as the last bales were Marine On
close pursuit of the light aircraft, entirely directed
recovered. only in No
by the controlling words of the Sea King and its
The next morning brought an unexpected result to rapt aud
distant radar.
when one oddly-shaped bale disgorged 26 stone- In a com
And then as the little aeroplane slowly circled
shaped packages, which after several hours of diplomacy,
in the sky, the Merlin held back in the dark, wait-
testing were judged to be strong-grade heroin – an the islands
ing for the pilot to spot the light flashing from the
unusual discovery to find crossing the air-bridge Virgin Islan
surface of the waters below.
between South America and the Caribbean. And the
At this point in the ops room, figures are clus-
This cargo of drugs will never make their way her compa
tered around the Principal Warfare Officer and his
to the pushers and peddlers of the European and ing challen
intricate display. One question uppermost in eve-
US markets. limping tha
ryone’s mind – is the aircraft about to drop bales
“The beauty of counter-drugs operations” said jungle duri
of drugs to the waiting motorboat below?
Ocean’s commanding officer Capt Russ Harding, Hurrican
The wait seemed interminable then the news
“is that everyone in the ship can immediately see Caribbean
came through that the helicopter had picked up a
that we’re making a difference to people back in eye on the
light contact on the surface of the sea.
the UK. blown hurr
Ocean’s mast now, instead of the Royal Navy’s
“And particularly at this time when we are at The Nav
Pictures: LA(Pho
0023-027_NN_aug07.indd 223-027_NN_aug07.indd 2 118/7/07 16:03:058/7/07 16:03:05
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