6 NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008
Astonishing
achievement
by Gannet
THE busiest Search and Rescue
team in Britain received a thank-
Dee’s death
you from the top man in the
military.
Defence Secretary Des Browne
dropped in on HMS Gannet, the
leaves
Prestwick-based Sea King Search
and Rescue unit, to pay tribute to
men and women who risk their
‘a big void’
lives so others may live.
The Sea Kings were scrambled
359 times in 2007 – 90 times
more than the year before. In
INSURGENTS in Afghanistan doing so they rescued 349 people
claimed the life of Royal Marine – 286 of those were injured.
Cpl Damian ‘Dee’ Mulvihill in The previous rescue record was
a bomb attack near the town of held by RAF Chivenor in 2006;
Sangin. its yellow Sea Kings responded to
The 32-year-old NCO was 293 call-outs.
killed instantly as he led his The busy trend shows no sign
section on a sweep of the terrain of abating. The fi rst eight weeks of
around the Helmand town on 2008 have seen 50 people rescued
February 20. by the Gannet team in 49 rescues,
Cpl Mulvihill – known by including the high-profi le sortie
comrades as ‘The Bear’ – and to pluck people from the stricken
his men were carrying out a joint ferry Riverdance off Blackpool
Allied-Afghan National Army during January’s storms.
operation to root out Taleban Operations over the sea are the
around Sangin and stop the exception rather than the rule
insurgents from intimidating for the Prestwick-based fl iers;
the local populace when an most of their rescue missions are
improvised explosive device was conducted over the mountains
detonated. of Scotland – Ben Nevis and
“Dee was a unique individual Glencoe fall within the 98,000
who brought inspiration to all square miles which are Gannet’s
who knew him. He was admired domain.
by his peers and respected by his “It’s always nice to be able
superiors,” said Capt Mark Elliott to hold a record, but for all of
RM, adjutant of 40 Commando. us here, it’s not about that – it’s
“His never-ceasing smile and about responding whenever we
‘bear-like’ handshake will always are needed to provide emergency
be remembered, as will his ● The formerly top-secret underground submarine facility in Sevastopol, now on HMS Exeter’s tourist trail support. No more, no less. That’s
passion on the rugby pitch. our job and it’s one we all love,”
“The Royal Marines have lost said Gannet’s CO Lt Cdr Brian
a truly exceptional individual Nicholas.
who will never be forgotten. It is Mr Browne told the SAR
an honour to call him a comrade team: “You’re to be commended
and even more so a friend.” for the excellent work which
WO2 Andrew Brownrigg, you do above the land and sea
Alpha Coy Sergeant Major,
Tunnel visions
of Scotland’s west coast and the
added: “His absence has left a north of England.
big void within the company. He “A call-out for almost every
never had a bad word to say to
Two decades ago, a Royal Navy warship pootling
day of the year in 2007 is an
anyone and nobody ever had a
TWO tunnels, one known the world over, one
around the Black Sea would have drawn the attention of
astonishing statistic.”
bad word to say about him.
hidden for half a century, have welcomed the
the Soviets’ Black Sea Fleet.
■ Kings of the mountains,
“My lasting memory of him men and women of HMS Exeter with open
Today, however, Allied navies are fostering ever closer
pages 16-17
will be his cheerfulness and his
‘arms’. relations with their Black Sea counterparts in the global
ability to put a smile on people’s
We’ll start with the famous one: the tunnel on fight against terrorist and criminal activities on the
faces.”
Monaco’s legendary Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. oceans.
Cpl Mulvihill joined the
Ocean’s Eight
It’s nearly two decades since a major British Two Ukrainian naval officers joined Exeter for
commandos in 1998 and served
warship has visited the tiny principality on France’s the passage from Monaco to the Crimean port of
in Sierra Leone and Northern
Mediterranean coast. Sevastopol, via Constanta in Romania.
Ireland.
for Ledbury
That last visitor was HMS Minerva with a young “One surprise, especially in Romania, was the
As well as being an exemplary
midshipman, Paul Brown, aboard enjoying the unexpected but excellent command of English – almost
green beret, he excelled at
MINEHUNTER HMS
hospitality of the fabled resort of the rich and famous. everyone spoke it perfectly, more so than in some of
sport, representing the Corps at
Ledbury spent three days in
Eighteen years down the line and a now Cdr Paul the UK’s closer European neighbours,” said Weapon
rugby union and the Combined
London sharing her knowledge
Brown was in charge of Exeter as he brought her in to Engineer Officer Lt Cdr Peter Broadbent.
Services at water polo.
of surveying and scouring the
Monte Carlo. That wasn’t the case across the Black Sea in Sevastopol, but
He had been planning to move
oceans to some of the world’s top
Actually, first of all Exeter stopped at the idyllic town of the Ukrainians were no less hospitable.
to CTCRM at Lympstone at the
scientists.
Villefranche-Sur-Mer, a short hop along the Riviera. There the One of the highlights of the visit to the peninsula was a chance
end of 40 Commando’s tour and
The Hunt-class warship
great and good of Monaco and some ex-pats climbed aboard and to tour the battlefields of the Crimean War, including the valley
tie the knot with his fiancée Lisa.
berthed at the ExCel Centre in
joined the ship for the trip along the coast to the principality. where the Light Brigade thundered to their doom.
the docklands for the duration of
FOSTie period
The welcome there from ex-pats and Monegasques was as Sevastopol itself was later invested by the British and French,
Oceanography International 08
warm as any Exeter’s ship’s company had experienced. a battle which is depicted on a 360˚ panoramic painting (created
– a conference and trade show
More than 30 sailors couldn’t resist the chance to drive the F1 over three years by 17 different artists).
for the marine science and ocean
for frigates
circuit (not in F1 cars but a Porsche, Jaguar XKR and Bentley). From echoes of a distant war to echoes of the Cold War – and
techonology community.
Unsurprisingly, they didn’t set any track records... but they did roar the second tunnel in this story.
Industry uses the exhibition to
past the Monte Carlo Casino – ‘Casino Royale’ in the eponymous The sailors were invited to tour Sevastopol’s secret ‘submarine
demonstrate the latest kit, while
FRIGATE Northumberland
Bond novel – and through that tunnel. factory’ where the Red Fleet’s boats were re-armed during the
leading academics get together
has returned to sea after a fairly
It wasn’t the only taste of the high life for the ship’s company. four-decade stand-off between East and West. Few people
for conferences to discuss the
lengthy spell alongside at home in
Other sailors were invited aboard the superyacht Rio Rita (as used outside the military knew of the complex’s existence; Sevastopol
study of the world’s oceans.
Devonport receiving some TLC
by, among others, the Duchess of Cornwall); sadly, the hire fee was a ‘closed’ city because of its importance as a naval base, but
Ledbury laid on various
ahead of further exertions.
was a little beyond their grasp (£100,000 per week). And yet more most of its inhabitants were not aware of the facility.
demonstrations of her sonar,
While the Type 23 warship was
took up an invite from the mayor of Monte Carlo to attend the Of course, it’s not all yachts, casinos and tunnels for the veteran
minehunting and command
enjoying an overhaul, her ship’s
carnival in Nice (think Rio carnival but in the south of France). destroyer – the sole active survivor of the Falklands War.
systems kit to hundreds of visitors
company scattered to the four
And then it was eastwards, through the Med, up the Dardanelles, The key aim of her sortie into the Black Sea was to discuss
and delegates, alongside the
corners of the UK... and beyond.
into the Sea of Marmara, then through the Bosphorus – which few operations in the Mediterranean that the Romanian and Ukrainian
French naval survey vessel BH
Most disappeared on
of the ship’s company had sailed through before – then into the have been involved in already – and those they could be involved
Laplace.
various training courses, but
Black Sea. with in the future to counter illegal activities on the high seas.
“It was a very interesting
15 headed to Les Menuires exhibition – especially being able
in France to take part in the to see and compare the latest
● Exeter basks in the Mediterranean
RN ski championships. Rather
sunshine alongside in Monte Carlo
commercial diving technology,”
warmer climes beckoned for ten said PO(D) ‘Eddy’ Edmundson,
shipmates who flew to Dahab in Ledbury’s coxswain.
Egypt for a diving expedition. It wasn’t all technology,
But now it’s back to more however, during the spell on the
mundane activities: damage Thames. The ship hosted the
control and fire-fighting training, Mayor of Ledbury, leading figures
seamanship drills and gunnery from local government and
exercises before Northumberland Trinity House, while the sailors
joins the Flag Officer Sea visited the Tower of London in
Training in June for operational uniform as part of the ‘RN in the
sea training to prepare her for Public Eye’ initiative.
deployment later in the year. Members of the wardroom
The FOST team have already headed even further west, to
put HMS Chatham through Notting Hill, to dine at the top-
her paces in the less usual rated Ledbury restaurant... in
surroundings of Portland rather Ledbury Road. CO Lt Cdr Paul
than Plymouth. Russell left the chefs a ship’s
The Type 22 frigate spent badge as a memento of the visit.
three days in the Dorset port, The minehunter is returning
where activities alternated to her raison d’être after two years
between seamanship duties and on Fishery Protection Duties. She
routines, monitored closely by the is currently undergoing intensive
FOSTies, and presentations to training before joining a NATO
local dignitaries, associations and minehunting force on patrol in
members of the public. European waters.
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