● Dawn patrol... An Iraqi Fast Aluminium Boat (FAB) races through the northern Gulf and (below) ever-present guardian... HMS Richmond
on the prowl around one of the two Iraqi oil terminals Pictures: LA(Phot) Chris Wenham, FRPU Whale Island
SO HERE we are again.
one and a half miles away from “When I fi rst came out here, al Amaya and Al Basrah); any can be forgiven for trying to cut protection, there’s no weapon
Another day, another patrol
the Iranians and they come they only had one fast aluminium vessel which encroaches is corners to save a little on fuel.” which measures up to it.”
around the murky, teeming
speeding down at 45kts in boat running. Now there are ten. investigated. In a bid to stop such corner And talking of weapons,
waters of the northern Arabian
speed boats, armed to the teeth Bringing their engineering And many do, although cutting, or at least to explain ashore the Iraqis took delivery
Gulf.
with AK47s and RPGs, it can on has been rewarding,” their intentions are why the platforms are among of 1,000 small arms and guns
You won’t, of course, read
get interesting,” says navigator he adds. invariably benign. the most heavily-guarded in their new armoury at Umm
about it in the papers. Or see it
Lt Craig Blackburn with typical “They don’t have our “Life would be simple maritime sites in the world, the Qasr.
on your TV screens.
British understatement. technical profi ciency. if the platforms were Royal Navy and Royal Marines Before handing over the
But we’re here. Day in, day
And the ‘endgame’ of the But they are very in the middle of the conduct patrols in small craft weapons, their RN mentors
out, ensuring the terrorists,
Allied forces also remains the willing to learn and ocean,” explains Lt around the platforms hoping had to be satisfied that security
fundamentalists and insurgents
same: to ensure that oil fl ows enthusiastic to Cdr Gavin Edward, to spread the word and foster measures, storage facilities and
do not hinder the flow of oil from
freely from the two terminals take on board the Richmond’s good relations with local sailors. accounting procedures were all
Iraq to the rest of the world. which sit about ten miles off Iraq
techniques we’ve weapons engineer Nothing, however, can be left safely in place.
After the Cornwall incident and pump that black gold into
shown them.” offi cer. to chance. Then there was a three-day
at Easter, operations in the waiting tankers.
The work of “Unfortunately, “Our challenge is to remain rush to move the weapons
Gulf have rather slipped off the We’ve been doing this now for
the mentors from they’re right in the in a ready state to deal with in ahead of Ramadan by
media ‘radar’. more than four years (Richmond
the Naval Transition centre of one of any number of situations,” CPO(LOGS) Darren ‘Nora’ Batty
But they continue. herself took over guardianship
Team (NaTT) has been the busiest and most says Richmond’s CO Cdr Piers and his Iraqi counterpart.
Ceaselessly. in the summer) alongside the championed in these pages lucrative fi shing grounds in Hurrell. Any day now they’ll be
It has fallen to Portsmouth- US and Australian Navies, US over the past few months. the Gulf – as well as a location The upper deck weapons are tucking in to a Thanksgiving
based frigate HMS Richmond to Coast Guard and Iraqi sailors Richmond has seen the fruits favoured by maritime traders. manned constantly and checked dinner (there’s a sizeable US
enact the lessons learned in the and marines. of those labours, as the Iraqi Often there’ll be upwards of 50 by a dedicated team of weapons contingent with the transition
wake of that illegal seizure of 15 Working with the latter marines have joined the frigate’s vessels from small skiffs to large engineers with a certain amount team).
sailors and Royal Marines. is “occasionally frustrating, RN-RM boarding parties on wooden dhows within a three- of pride. And any day now, Richmond
And be in no doubt. Fleet sometimes rewarding,” says operations around the platforms, mile radius. “It’s got the ‘macho factor’,” will set course for home; her
Street might be paying little CPO(MEM) Andrew Murray, a while their Iraqi navy comrades “It’s often hard for the ET(WE) Tyron Clarke says of the time in the Gulf is nearly up. Her
attention to operations in the Royal Navy damage control buzz around in their patrol craft. fi shermen – most are trying minigun he looks after. It can sister HMS Argyll slipped out
northern Gulf, but the Iranians expert attached to the A 2,000-metre (6,500ft) to earn an honest wage. They spurt out 3,000 rounds a minute of Devonport last month bound
are still here. international team overseeing exclusion zone is drawn around generally use the platforms as at incoming seaborne targets. for the Middle East to take over
“When you realise you are the Iraqis. the two platforms (the Khawr navigational references, so they “When it comes to close from her this month.
0015_NN_Nov.indd 115_NN_Nov.indd 1 117/10/07 09:31:567/10/07 09:31:56
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48