NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2007 3
Kitchen d’or
on Richmond
Bye bye Clyde
NEW patrol ship HMS Clyde bade farewell to Portsmouth
FRIGATE HMS Richmond has
– possibly for good – as she sailed south to begin work.
completed her fi rst patrol around
The souped-up River-class vessel takes over from HMS
Iraq’s oil platforms as she replaces Dumbarton Castle as the Falklands guardship – and should be
HMS Cornwall in the northern half way to her destination by the time you read this.
Arabian Gulf. Clyde will be on duty in the South Atlantic for at least five years
Barely had Richmond taken under a lease deal with Portsmouth-based shipbuilders VT Group
over from Cornwall than she who own and built the warship.
found herself hosting new Armed The aim is to carry out maintenance on Clyde in the Southern
Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth, Hemisphere, rather than bringing her back to Blighty sporadically
acquainting himself with the work for an overhaul.
of British forces in the Gulf. The ship commissioned in July, since when she has been
After a lightning visit to conducting aviation trials – a Sea King from 771 NAS touched
Richmond, the MP moved on to down more than 300 times during those tests – and training
Umm Qasr to see the Iraqi Navy around the UK.
being trained by the RN and RM. Once in the Falklands, she will be available for missions on
That training is something 282 days a year, with her crew being rotated every six months.
Richmond herself has been Her predecessor will conduct a handover before returning to
involved in: a group of rookie Portsmouth for decommissioning in November.
Iraqi officers joined the warship Picture: LA(Phot) Chris Wenham, FRPU Whale Island
for a day to see how the RN
conducts its business in great
waters – and the Iraqis in turn
shared their invaluable local
knowledge with the Richmond
team.
Despite a punishing
operational tempo, sailors have
had opportunities to let their
(admittedly short) hair down,
most notably with the military
variant of Ready Steady Cook,
‘Iron Chef’.
Richmond hosted the
international culinary event, with
chefs, sorry logisticians(catering
services(preparation)), from
Australia’s HMAS Anzac and
the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis
destroyer USS Chung Hoon
joining their British counterparts
in the Type 23’s galley.
The chefs were given just 90
minutes to design and prepare as
many dishes as possible using five
core and one ‘secret’ ingredient,
ranging from something as simple
as a packet of soup to as ‘exotic’
as a Snickers bar.
Declaring the Australians
winners of the first round in
what was an extremely close
competition, Richmond’s CO
Cdr Piers Hurrell said: “The
chefs have worked really hard to
create two special menus, both
of which were of a very high Storm chasers
standard indeed. The stuffed
chicken breast prepared by
Australian chef AB Chandler was
TWO Royal Navy vessels
Cdr Mike Utley, HMS Portland’s
simply delicious.”
Commanding Offi cer.
● A boarding team using HMS Portland’s RIB inspects a ‘Go-fast’ at sunset near Trinidad during
Round two saw the Brits defeat
were following in the
“Our aim has been to follow
counter-drugs operations, while the ship’s Lynx watches overhead
the Yanks in what was yet another
devastating wake of
the storm closely enough to be
Picture: LA(Phot) Luis Holden, FRPU Whale Island
tightly-fought battle. Hurricane Dean, sweeping
able to provide assistance as soon
“Having only 90 minutes to
through the Caribbean as
as possible afterwards and help
plan and execute a menu is a
locals to put things back together
squeeze, however, we are used to
Navy News went to press.
again.”
tough conditions and this kind of
Frigate HMS Portland and
Portland’s sailors had
event just keeps us on our toes,”
fl eet tanker RFA Wave Ruler
been reminded of the
said Richmond’s LLOGS(CS)
broke off from the war
devastation Nature can
‘Bob’ Maidment.
against drug traffi ckers to
cause when they sailed up
“This competition has been
track the hurricane – the
the Mississipi into New
great fun and gave us the
fi rst major storm of the
Orleans.
opportunity to visit other ships in
2007 season.
More than 700
the Task Force as well as to share
The pair hung around
people lost their lives
culinary ideas with our Coalition
150 miles behind the
when Hurricane
partners.”
storm as it smashed its
way through Jamaica,
Katrina – a Category
bound for the Cayman
5 storm – bludgeoned
Royal guest
Islands.
its way through the
The ships watched
city in 2005.
as Dean grew in strength
The famous port
for Albion
over a spell of four days
offered a respite for
from a worrying Category 2 storm
Portland after she conducted a
(winds of around 100mph) to
series of boarding operations and
ASSAULT ship HMS Albion’s
a vicious Category 4 hurricane
exercises around the Mississipi
patron dropped in while
(gusts upwards of 150mph).
Delta and Gulf of Mexico in
the vessel was conducting
Portland’s ship’s company spent
conjunction with US forces.
exercises off the south coast.
48 hours preparing for potential
Before Dean struck, the
The Royal Flight brought
disaster relief operations, forming
Devonport-based frigate’s
Princess Anne to Albion,
specialist teams for fi rst aid, heavy
deployment had been relatively
where she caught up with
and light rescue missions, and
plain sailing.
the ship’s company and
logistical support, while
During anti-drug patrols
Albion’s permanent Royal
Wave Ruler had fuel and
off St Lucia, sharp-eyed
Marines detachment 6 Assault
food available should it be
quartermaster LS Darren
Squadron.
needed.
Stedman spied a vessel in
Commanding Officer
Despite the forecasts,
distress – a vessel so small
Capt Tim Lowe apprised the
Grand Cayman and its
the frigate’s radar did
Princess Royal of his ship’s
outlying islands were
not pick it up.
recent activities, most notably
spared the full force
Portland’s sea
the spring/summer deployment
of Dean: Portland’s
boat was promptly
to the Baltic with NATO,
Lynx was launched to
launched and its crew
followed by a high-profile visit
assess the damage in
found two fishermen
to St Petersburg.
Grand Cayman – which
stranded in a boat.
As a souvenir of that
proved to be much less severe
The engine was broken,
deployment, and other recent
than originally feared.
the men had no means of
activities, Capt Lowe presented
Dean was not done, however, communication and the fishermen
the royal guest – she launched
and grew in strength to earn the had run out of food and water.
the assault ship in Barrow six
dubious distinction of a Category The latter shortcoming was
years ago – with a photograph
5 storm (such as Hurricane Ivan in quickly put right by the Portland
album. 2004 which devastated Grenada)
sailors and the fishermen were
And then it was the turn of as it clattered across the Yucatan
given a medical check-up before
Capt Lowe to receive a gift; Peninsula in Mexico.
their boat, Shadrach, was towed
Princess Anne’s visit coincided It was expected to strike the
back towards St Lucia to be handed
with his 44th birthday. Commonwealth country of Belize
over to the local coastguard.
In the presence of the – and that prompted Fleet planners
“The crew were waving
princess and his ship’s to order Portland and Wave Ruler
frantically and appeared very
company, the commanding to hang on to Dean’s coat tails and distressed,” said LS Stedman.
officer was presented with offer assistance in Belize. “Who knows what would have
a birthday cake baked by “To be honest, it’s been pretty happened if we hadn’t seen
POLOGS(CS) Aris. sporty over the past few days,” said them.”
0003_NN_Sept.indd 103_NN_Sept.indd 1 221/8/07 13:18:051/8/07 13:18:05
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