NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008 7
‘‘A very important mission...’A very important mission...’
● ‘And so we’re told this is the golden age’... Sea and sky blend
into one as HMS Campbeltown heads to Bahrain during her Gulf
patrol Picture: LA(Phot) Chris Winter, FRPU East
THE small industrial port
a difficult and changing and the USS Scout, a large naval infantry, offered the ten Bay’s predecessor, veteran RFA into the shoes of Australian
of Safaga is perhaps
programme.” minehunter (roughly twice the mariners shelter and food and Sir Bedivere (now paid off and Commodore Allan du Toit at the
not everyone’s ideal
Argyll has been away from home size of a Sandown-class ship). made arrangements for the men awaiting her fate in Portsmouth helm of Combined Task Force
in Devonport since the beginning Six Kuwaiti clearance divers to be reunited with their families Harbour), the craft were invariably 158.
destination. of October and won’t be home for joined HMS Blyth. in Basra. exposed to the elements. CTF158 oversees the US-UK-
But to the men and women of some time yet as she continues Their work with their opposite On a more permanent basis, Keeping the boats in the flooded- Australian mission to protect
HMS Argyll it was probably akin anti-terror and security patrols numbers from Britain was made Cardigan Bay is home to two fast up dock has also significantly Iraq’s oil terminals and maintain
to Xanadu and the Garden of east of Suez. considerably easier by the fact craft from Inshore Boat Unit 22 reduced the time it takes for them security at sea in the northern
Eden rolled into one after one of The good news for her crew, that their officer had trained at and three Iraqi Navy patrol boats. to be launched for patrols. Gulf, directing operations from a
the most demanding spells at sea however, is that Argyll’s days in Dartmouth and several of the The former provide souped-up Cardigan Bay is increasingly small control centre on the Khawr
in the frigate’s history. the Middle East are numbered as divers had undergone training on protection for Allied shipping in serving as the hub for naval Al Amaya platform.
Last month we told you that we her replacement is already Gulf- Horsea Island. the northern Gulf; the latter are operations in the northern Gulf The three Allies take it in turns
couldn’t really tell you what Argyll bound. Her sister HMS Montrose While Blyth focused her efforts vital for training Iraqi sailors and – and not merely as a centre for to oversee operations, with Cdre
had been up to. has left Devonport and is currently on the UK-Kuwaiti diving team marines in the art of boarding training Iraqis. Potts in charge until August.
And that remains the case. But in the Med. to cope with dummy mines in the vessels, defending shipping from The landing support ship is “We have a very important
we can tell you how long she’s The current guardian of the oil northern Gulf, Ramsey was the terrorist attack, and safeguarding also the focal point for mail drops mission to conduct. I have the
been doing what we can’t tell you platforms, HMS Campbeltown, ‘disaster’ ship – or, more accurately, the two oil terminals which pump in the area, as well as transfers of right people, ships and aircraft to
about... 52 days. was joined by 120 students from the ‘coping with disaster’ ship. Iraq’s principal export into waiting personnel in and out of theatre by achieve the level of stability that is
That’s 52 days continually at Kuwait’s staff college over two A ‘sick’ American diver was tankers. boat or helicopter. needed,” said Cdre Potts.
sea in the Gulf and Indian Ocean days. cross-decked to the Sandown as The RFA’s vast loading dock The operations of Cardigan “Iraq’s territorial waters may
(yes, we know submariners do a lot A packed programme of part of a casualty exercise, before also provides shelter for the patrol Bay and Campbeltown are now be small, but I see them as the
longer but their boats are designed demonstrations was laid on for 60 undergoing treatment in Ramsey’s boats from the dust storms which directed by a Brit once again umbilical cord which feeds much
for such sustained operations). Kuwaitis on each day: air defence therapeutic recompression whip up around here; on Cardigan with Cdre Duncan Potts stepping of the Iraqi economy.”
Argyll began her Gulf exercises, Lynx operations, chamber.
deployment in earnest with a 30- boarding operations and fast As well as dealing with the mine
day spell safeguarding the Iraqi oil attack defence drills. threat, the ship’s company also
platforms – a pretty lengthy patrol And talking of Kuwaitis... had to contend with firefighting
in itself. A dozen hopped aboard HMS and enemy attacks courtesy of
She handed over that duty to Blyth during a combined exercise demonstrations laid on for their
HMS Campbeltown, then popped involving the British, US and Kuwaiti visitors.
Forces Package
into Bahrain to prepare herself for Kuwaiti navies. A few miles away, off the coast
a marathon stint at sea. The ships of the Aintree task of Iraq, amphibious support ship
“Sustaining a Type 23 frigate, force, HMS Blyth and Ramsey, RFA Cardigan Bay became the
As a valued member of the armed forces you can take
which was designed for North left Bahrain behind for a week or saviour of Iraqi sailors when their
Atlantic operations, off East Africa so to head north. ship sank in the northern Gulf.
advantage of one of the following packages:
for such a period has been an RN minehunting skills were The aged MV Nadi spent five
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immense task,” said Cdr Gavin instrumental in opening up the days wallowing in the middle of
Pritchard, Argyll’s Commanding waters to Kuwait during the 1991 the sea after breaking down as
Officer. war with Iraq and clearing a path she headed from Umm Qasr to
It took Royal Fleet Auxiliaries for humanitarian aid to Umm the United Arab Emirates to be
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RFA’s US equivalent, the USNS the campaign to oust Saddam Her crew tried to radio for help
John Lenthal and Walter S Diehl, Hussein. but a combination of bad weather
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● Cutting edge... a rare view of
the bow of HMS Argyll slicing
01626 357606 midashomes.com
through rather clear Gulf
* Subject to scheme rules. Prices correct at time of going to press.
waters
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