NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008 25
Cold fl eet
HMS CORNWALL is used to
this time the Ark is also playing a One of those underwater threats was
playing a supporting role.
supporting role, as a helicopter carrier a British T-boat (main picture) which
She is a frigate, after all – and
to the assault ship twins Albion and probed the task force’s defences as the
Bulwark which led Exercise Armatura assault ships prepared to deliver their
although as a Type 22 she is more
Borealis along the coast of Norway. cargo of Royal Marines ashore.
than capable of acting as flagship
While Bulwark was flagship for So, back to Cornwall, given the job
(most recently for the Allied CTF 158 Commander Amphibious Task Group, of supporting the landings, providing
task force in the Gulf) she continues Cdre Peter Hudson, Albion acted gunfire support and protecting the
the RN tradition of frigates as
as command ship for the maritime capital ships.
workhorses of the Fleet.
component commander of the exercise, She was also a well-armed forward
But that is not the case with HMS
Maj Gen Gary Robison RM, Commander operating base for 3 Commando
Ark Royal.
UK Amphibious Force. Brigade as she had her own force of 80
She is a bona fide Death Star, the
So, a back seat for the Ark then? green berets – most accommodated on
soubriquet given by smaller
Far from it. You name it, they got camp beds in the hangar.
ships to the carriers,
it – air attacks, fast boat attacks, It was quite a change from last year’s
which suck in all the
submarine attacks; just about the only eventful deployment to the Gulf, as
attention and leave
thing not thrown at the task group was noted by her CO, Cdr Jeremy Woods.
others in their
a cavalry charge. “The difference in conditions
shadow.
On top of that the carrier was between our operations last year and
But
supporting 824 Naval Air Squadron’s on Exercise Armatura Borealis now
operational training, so squadron could not be greater, but this really
engineers, aviators and the carrier’s illustrates the flexibility of a capable
flight deck crew had to endure bitter ship such as HMS Cornwall, and the
cold and long dark hours while relevance of naval power in the modern
ensuring the aircraft were world.
up to the task – and the “We are just as at home up here,
Merlins, once airborne, working close inshore, putting troops
played their part in on the beach in the dead of night while
tracking ‘enemy’ fighting off an air raid, as we were
submarines and protecting the oil platforms in the Gulf.”
fast attack With the end of the exercise the 25
craft, as well vessels of various nations went their
as ferrying separate ways.
people. For Ark that means a brief stopover in
Scotland before she deploys to America
to work with the US Marine Corps.
Pictures: PO(Phot) Jonathan Hamlet
● The Northern Lights
illuminate Ark Royal
● HMS Cornwall in
Norwegian waters
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