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2 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2007
Ballistic missile
submarine
HMS Dasher
HMS Pursuer
HMS Northumberland
Naval Strike Wing/40 Cdo/
HMS Sabre/Scimitar
Vikings/FSMASU
845 and 846 NAS, 539 ASRM
RFA Wave Ruler
HMS Monmouth
HMS Portland
HMS Richmond
HMS Enterprise
HMS Ramsey
HMS Blyth
RFA Bayleaf
RFA Sir Bedivere
814 NAS
HMS Clyde 857 NAS
ROSYTH
FASLANE
HMS Charger
HMS Bangor
HMS Liverpool
HMS Dumbarton Castle
HMS Southampton
HMS W
estminster
PORTSMOUTH
DEVONPORT
HMS Somerset
Fleet Fleet FocusFocus
Blyth turn
the tables
NORMALLY it’s the good
THERE seems to be a distinctly Chinese fl avour to naval
folk of HMS Blyth tackling
goings-on this past month. fi res, grappling with machinery
Not merely has the good ship HMS Monmouth been breakdowns and coping with
working with the People’s Liberation Army Navy on the far
fl oods – all at the hands of
side of the world (see page 8), but the far side of the world
instructors from the Flag Offi cer
has also come to Pompey (see opposite).
Sea Training.
The key commitment – “a tough campaign and a vital
The boot was on the other
foot for the minehunter’s crew,
one,” in the words of the First Sea Lord – at present
however, when Blyth was joined
is Afghanistan, where the Naval Strike Wing and 40
by sailors from the Bahrain
Commando are both deployed in the on-going war Defence Force.
against the Taleban (see pages 6 and 7).
Now it was the Bahrainis’
The other crucible of effort continues to be the Gulf,
‘good’ fortune to cope with fire,
home to HM Ships Richmond, Blyth, Ramsey and
plague, pestilence and flood (well,
Enterprise, Royal Fleet Auxiliaries Sir Bedivere and
the fire and flood bit at any rate)
as Blyth’s crew created havoc.
Bayleaf, and the mentors of the Naval Transition
The Bahraini sailors spent a
Team.
fortnight aboard the Sandown-
The NaTT and Sir Bedivere are overseeing the class ship while Blyth’s sailors
development of the Iraqi Navy and Marines (see pages shared their knowledge and
14 and 15), Blyth has been training the Bahraini navy
expertise of coping with crises
(see right), Ramsey has been blowing up mines with the
at sea.
Americans (see page 41), and HMS Cornwall’s eventful
The training for the Bahrainis
time in the region has finally ended with her return to
came hot on the heels of a similar
package offered to the Royal
Devonport (see page 4).
Navy of Oman, which Blyth
Away from the Gulf, HMS Northumberland has provided with her sister HMS
assumed anti-terror duties in the Mediterranean with Ramsey, the other half of the
NATO (see page 5).
Operation Aintree task force.
Assault ship HMS Albion paid her second visit to
The Bahrain sailors were taken ● This is what they looked like before the tot... HMS Quorn’s ship’s company celebrate winning the
Denmark of the summer, this time calling in at Copenhagen
Soberton Trophy through a number of different
to return a Napoleonic-era bell to its rightful owners (see
stances, watching demonstrations
page 32) before sailing to take part in disaster relief
exercises with Allied navies (see page 11).
Few, if any ships as a unit, are busier than the
Sober-ing times on Quorn
of man-overboard and
seamanship drills and the Special
Sea Dutyman organisation as the
ship conducted the pilotage out
Fishery Protection Squadron, whose recent activities
of Bahrain, to a patrol area a few
are championed on page 13. Although a minehunter by
RUM barrels on British warships aren’t quite resilience displayed by her ship’s company.” miles off the coast.
design, HMS Quorn is a fishery boat by trade presently;
as rare as you might think these days. And despite the Soberton Trophy As well as watching Blyth’s
she collected a trophy for her sterling efforts (see right).
The daily tot may have been scrapped in containing not a drop of rum, Commodore sailors at work, the Bahrainis had
1970, but twice in the past four years senior Portsmouth Flotilla Cdre Andrew Cameron a tour of the ship and witnessed
New patrol ship HMS Clyde should, by the time you
officers have trotted aboard HMS Quorn and the ship’s company toasted the the incredible manoeuvrability
read this, be steaming around the Falklands; she stopped to hand over a barrel of rum to her ship’s occasion with a tot of Pusser’s Rum
of Blyth; she can pirouette on
off in Rio on her way south to take part in a Brazilian Fleet company. – fittingly in a Pusser’s Rum tin mug. the spot whilst under way at
Review (see page 41). HMS Southampton has also visited
Sadly, said barrel is devoid of rum. It Not content with ‘doing fi sh’, the ship maximum speed – a feat only
Brazil for a brief spell of maintenance before return to the
is, however, filled with gratitude for the has continued with her core role: fi nding possible in Sandown-class vessels
Falklands (see page 4).
ship’s fishery protection achievements. and disposing of mines. Just hours after thanks to their unique propulsion
In home waters, HM Ships Bangor and Lancaster
The barrel – better known as the receiving the trophy, the ship sailed for system.
Soberton Trophy – is presented to the a week of mine warfare training around
were on hand when a Russian warship visited the
To mark the end of the training
Hunt-class warship which has made the the Solent. support package, the visitors were
Clyde to remember heroics in the Russo-Japanese war
most outstanding contribution to fishery And then it was back to fi sh. After issuing presented with commemorative
(see page 4). duties in the past 12 months. various verbal warnings to fishermen infringing certifi cates by the UK Maritime
Our ship of the month (see page 12) HMS Somerset
It’s a trophy the ship previously collected in the rules in a lumpy North Sea (it was, after all, Component Commander,
could be found in the River Dart for the 163rd Royal
2003. She returned to fishery protection work last high summer), Quorn headed for the Cornish port of based in Bahrain, Cdre Keith
Regatta as the event’s guardship (see page 19), while
September, giving up her ‘day job’ of mine warfare to Fowey for its Royal Regatta. Winstanley.
HMS Liverpool paid her first visit since a refit to the
bolster the Fishery Protection Squadron. The ship opened her gangway to 800 visitors, while “Interaction like this may
In nine months, her sailors conducted more than the sailors were out and about in Fowey.
Mersey city which carries the same name (see page 32).
look like a small commitment,
90 boardings of trawlers in and around UK waters, Some attended the regatta’s church service, others but it really is so important,” the
For those in peril around the UK, the Search and
admonishing several fi shermen for breaches of the enjoyed a concert by the St Columba Cornish Male commodore added.
Rescue Sea Kings of 771 NAS and HMS Gannet Flight law, and detaining three vessels for more serious Voice Choir. “The infl uence it has and
have been guardian angels during an extremely busy
transgressions. Other music was provided by the Band of HM the good standing we have as a
summer (see page 7).
The citation for the award praises Quorn’s “utmost Royal Marines Dartmouth, who staged a Falklands consequence with the Bahrainis is
And finally, hats off to the men and women of HMS
fl exibility”. It continues: 25th anniversary concert, while Quorn’s sailors almost immeasurable.”
Portland and RFA Wave Ruler. Having chased Hurricane
“HMS Quorn has fulfi lled her duties to the conducted a sunset ceremony in Place House, Blyth and Ramsey are deployed
Dean around the Caribbean for several days, the sailors
Squadron, the Royal Navy, the Marine and Fisheries Fowey’s 15th-Century tower. to the Gulf on mine counter-
Agency and to the community at large with And the sailors were on the streets of the town measure and survey operations
of both ships were called upon in Belize to help locals
professionalism, self-belief and utmost determination. collecting cash during the regatta carnival, while CO until 2009, with their crews
re-build their homes after the storm finally struck land in Strongly led, the high standards that she has set are a Lt Cdr Matt Bowden was a guest at the crowning of
being rotated via the rest of the
force (see centre pages). testament to the degree of teamwork, knowledge and the carnival queen. Sandown fl eet.
002_NN_Oct.indd 1 19/9/07 16:48:10
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