4 NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2007
Active duties
Covering that
Torbay feels
end for blue all over
Montrose
HMS Torbay has become the fi rst
Trafalgar-class submarine to be
raised from the water at Faslane’s
FOR every man and woman impressive ‘shiplift’ facility.
aboard HMS Montrose, there It took two days to dock down
were three on the quayside in the Devonport-based hunter killer
Devonport.
as she was lifted completely out of
And we’re not counting those
Exe-tra mile
the water.
waving furiously at Devil’s
She will be dry until early
Point, The Hoe and Mount
next month while she undergoes
Wise, all eager to welcome the
THE lengthened, slightly sleeker lines, the distinctive
routine maintenance and her
frigate home from a seven-
castle badge, the pennant number all suggest: HMS ‘bottom’ is painted blue (like her
month deployment to the Edinburgh.
upper hull).
Mediterranean.
But there’s no hiding the Exe Nasty’ Simon Cowell (who bore
Also receiving a mini-overhaul
The Type 23 warship left
Factor. an uncanny resemblance to Surg
at Faslane is minehunter HMS
home at the beginning of the
Outwardly Edinburgh she may Lt Ed Barnard) and LS Deon
Pembroke, which will be out of
year to join NATO forces on
have been, inwardly the Type 42 Brigdon standing in for Sharon
action until mid-month.
Exercise Active Endeavour, the
destroyer was unmistakably HMS Osbourne.
By the end of September she
sweep of the Mediterranean
Exeter. They picked guitarist/singer
should be fully operational once
by Allied warships searching
Edinburgh arrived home in CPO Phil Metcalfe as the winner;
more, ready to conduct detailed
for terrorists and criminals
Portsmouth at the end of July, he picked up £50 for his troubles.
route survey operations off the
which has continued non-stop
crewed entirely by the men and The last leg of the journey home
south-west coast of England.
since the September 11 2001
women of the good ship Exeter, proved eventful for the ship when
Early October will see the
atrocities.
bringing to an end a ten-month she picked up a mayday 170 miles
ship alongside in Devonport
Much, though not all, of
experiment to the South Atlantic. of the Scillies: a Spanish fi sherman
where she’ll also take part in
that work was conducted in
Fleet Headquarters wanted had severed his thumb.
Staff College Sea Days, showing
the eastern Mediterranean,
to see whether it was possible to Edinburgh collected the injured
personnel of all three Services
although there was a smattering
keep a ship of destroyer or frigate sailor by sea boat, then scrambled
from the Joint Staff College at
of port visits for refuelling/
size on station longer by swapping her Lynx to ferry the casualty
Shrivenham what the RN does,
R&R/goodwill, including Split
ship’s companies part-way through to hospital in Truro once the
day in, day out.
in Croatia, Chania in Crete and
a deployment; nine or ten months destroyer was within range of the
Patras in Greece.
are about as much as any ship can mainland.
Montrose’s deployment was
£1bn reactor deal
manage on deployment before Once home in Pompey – it
largely conducted away from
requiring some TLC alongside. was a glorious morning for their
THE Silent Service is spending
the public gaze, although the
And so Edinburgh’s original arrival – Edinburgh’s original crew
£1bn to save £120m to maintain
frigate did save the lives of 11
crew fl ew home in February to take moved back aboard, while Exeter’s the nuclear reactors which power
Turkish sailors who escaped
charge of their sister ship, while sailors took possession of their old its fl eet of submarines.
the MV Sunshine, which sank in
their comrades from Exeter fl ew in ship after some much-deserved Whitehall has signed a ten-
just ten minutes when its cargo
the opposite direction to join their summer leave. year deal with Rolls-Royce to
of marble shifted.
new ship in the Falklands. “This has been a deployment provide/support all nuclear
That rescue back in
After a gruelling spring and with a difference,” said Edinburgh submarines with the reactors and
April was, apart from the
summer patrolling the Falklands, CO Cdr Paul Brown. kit which turns raw energy into
homecoming, probably the
Edinburgh was fi nally allowed to “We’re all delighted to be home high-pressure steam to power
highlight of the seven-month
relax on the long journey home, and the focus now is on swapping the boats’ engines and electricity
tour of duty.
fi rst in Rio, then Fortaleze, Brazil, back to our respective ships. The generators.
“I’m extremely proud of my and lastly in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, sea swap trial is just one element
The all-encompassing deal with
ship’s company – they’ve ably where there was a fi nal chance to of a wider trial which aims to make
the Derby-based division of Rolls-
met every challenge over a let hair down before home waters. the best use of our resources.”
Royce sees the fi rm take charge
prolonged period,” said CO Cdr And how. The sailors decided While Edinburgh was at the hub
of all planning, management and
Tony Watts, who now leaves to replicate the hit talent show X- of Falklands 25 commemorations
engineering support for the next
Montrose to head to the Staff Factor, suitably renamed Exeter in the South Atlantic, it was
decade.
College at Shrivenham. Factor. perhaps apt that the ship her crew Swiftsure and Trafalgar-class
“The homecoming was not So much talent is there aboard left behind toured the British Isles hunter killer boats are powered
just about the ship and the Exeter that there had to be a to pay homage to that war – a war by Mk1 Pressurised Water
ship’s company – it was also series of auditions before the nine of which Exeter is one of the last Reactor Plants and more modern
about the people we left behind headline acts – ranging from boy serving survivors. Vanguard and Astute boats by the
for seven months. band ‘2 Deck Stbd Boys’ (Catchy The experiment with ‘sea swap’ Mk2 variant of the reactor.
“Without their support our name – Ed) to an Abba tribute is not just confi ned to Exeter- Defence procurement minister
job would be more diffi cult. band a Country and Western Edinburgh; HMS Sutherland Lord Drayson said over the deal’s
Knowing you have the backing performer ‘Big Dave’. in the Gulf earlier this year and ten-year lifespan the MOD would
of your family and that their No X-Factor would be complete minehunters Blyth and Ramsey save more than £120m compared
thoughts are with you is without judges. Enter Louis currently in Bahrain have also
● HMS Exeter’s ship’s company squeeze on to the forecastle of
with the existing maintenance
essential for morale.” Walsh (aka Lt Alex Simms), ‘Mr been at the heart of the trial.
HMS Edinburgh for the fi nal leg of their South Atlantic deployment
deal.
York ‘still cuts the mustard’
THE ‘white rose’ sailors
The meadows of thrown at the air defence and bombing runs.
paid the fi rst visit to the
Clifton Backies have only destroyer. “This was a rare opportunity
city which gives their
been a council-owned York spent three to spend an extended period in
reserve for a couple of weeks on exercises: first, the excellent training grounds of
ship her name in three years after suffering
Indra Danush, then
the North Sea and gave my team
years.
decades of neglect.
Wycombe Warrior.
the opportunity to gain valuable
And the men and women
“It’s the usual
Indra Danush
experience in joint operations,”
of HMS York won’t be back in
story of not enough
was an RAF-
said Cdr Tim Cryar, York’s CO.
Yorkshire’s county town for some
money and one
Indian Air Force
“HMS York proved that the
time as the destroyer prepares for
member of staff
war game, with
Type 42 can still cut the mustard
a year out of action while she
trying to do all
Indian Sukhoi SU-
in the world of air defence.”
undergoes a major refit.
the work, assisted
30 Flankers joining
Before heading for Hull, the
The visit to York (the ship
by groups of school ship found time (and space)
herself actually berthed in Hull)
children and OAPs
more traditional
to host more than 70 affiliates,
coincided with Yorkshire Day
wanting to do some
Tornadoes (pictured)
including troops from 2nd
(August 1 for those who aren’t
volunteering,” said Lt Cdr Karen
and Typhoons in the North
Signals Regiment, staff from John
from God’s Own County – Tyke
Allsford, York’s Logistics Officer.
Sea skies.
Smiths brewery, the Worshipful
Ed), a date Yorkshire folk take
The fifty-strong RN work
York’s fighter controllers
Companies of Merchant
deadly seriously.
party got to grips with overgrown
enjoyed directing these potent
Adventurers and Farmers, RNA
So seriously, in fact, that
hedges and helped to improve
jets, before the tables were turned
veterans, and York Lions for a
there was a parade through the
some of the fencing around the
and the ship had to defend herself
day at sea.
streets of Hull by York’s crew,
site.
against (mock) air attacks.
The guests were treated to
a march which ended at the
Also in York,
After a weekend break in Den
crash stops, fire-fighting and
city’s Holy Trinity Church
seven saddle-
Helder, York teamed up with damage control demonstrations,
where there was a service of
sore sailors were
the F15 Strike Eagles and a fly past by two RAF
commemoration. The Band of
waiting to re-join of 494th Fighter Typhoons before they were
HM Royal Marines provided their shipmates.
deposited safely back on dry land
musical accompaniment on this It took the team,
again.
special day with a performance led by clubz LPT
Before her year-long revamp
in Victoria Square. Chris Peden, four days
in Portsmouth, York has a final
The weekend before Yorkshire to cycle from Spiller’s Wharf
mission escorting a carrier
Day, sailors from York were on in Newcastle (the destroyer’s
battle group this autumn in
hand at the start of the Clipper previous port of call) to the heart
the Mediterranean.
Race. of York, all in aid of Applefields
There the Wilberforce Petition special needs school. Wing
– a demand to end the global Rather than the ‘simple’ as-
from RAF
slave trade – was signed before the-crow-flies distance of 88
Lakenheath
being presented to the crew of miles between the two cities, the
for Wycombe
One Hull Tag Team, the local riders clocked up 180 miles by
Warrior.
clipper taking part in the race. the time they rode into York.
The York/Strike
Away from Hull, 50 members Before the visits to Hull and
Eagle pairing had to
of the ship’s company headed York, the ship had been on
defend themselves – and
west to York for a day’s toil in a duty in the North Sea where all
other friendly forces – in the
nature reserve. manner of aerial threats were
face of determined ‘enemy’
aerial assaults, including highly-
● HMS York’s sailors remove their caps in Hull’s Holy Trinity
Church for a Yorkshire Day commemorative service
realistic anti-ship missile attacks
Picture: LA(Phot) Tel Boughton, FRPU Clyde
0004_NN_Sept.indd 104_NN_Sept.indd 1 221/8/07 10:20:581/8/07 10:20:58
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