10 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008
● Lusty leads RFA Wave Knight and HMS Edinburgh towards the
Suez Canal
Birdman,
The good
Batman
shepherd
and Borat
THE youngest destroyer in Britain’s military inventory (we’re not
counting the Type 45s yet as they’re not operational) celebrated a
milestone as she safeguarded HMS Illustrious 3,000 miles from NOT three names you
over the Equator before was
home.
typically see in close
exempt from a ducking in the
● Jack Tarred... PO Robbie Robertson fl ies to victory in the
The ship’s company of HMS Edinburgh marked the Type 42’s
pool, not even Westminster’s
birdman contest
25th birthday in the Gulf of Oman with a hands to bathe, sail past
proximity – and most
CO Cdr Ken Houlberg.
(by Edinburgh’s RIB), and the parade of a brightly-coloured ‘25’
defi nitely not in these There has been, of course,
banner. pages.
considerable work alongside
The Fortress of the Sea was launched in April 1983 at Cammell Until now.
the play.
Laird’s yard in Birkenhead and commissioned two years later. All three could be found
The bulk of the ship’s Orion
A quarter of a century later, the destroyer is Illustrious’ guardian aboard Her Majesty’s Ship
08 deployment is devoted to
against possible air attack during the Orion 08 deployment (see Westminster one fine day in
maritime security operations
pages 23-26 for more details). the Gulf of Aden.
and – currently – anti-submarine
Lusty turns for home this month, but not Edinburgh. She won’t And Wonder Woman. And
exercises off India, Konkan.
be back in Portsmouth until August after seven months. Superman. Bananaman too.
But enough of the serious
So where is she going for the remainder of her deployment? We have the petty officers’
stuff. Let’s get back to the fun...
Well, we’re glad you asked... She’s steaming east to Singapore mess on the Type 23
Westminster put into
and the Malay Peninsula to represent the UK at the Bersama Shield frigate to thank for
the Seychelles for
war games, regularly held by Commonwealth navies in the region. encouraging such
a weekend, offering
The voyage east will also permit her to pay her respects over the a glittering array of
some amazing diving
wrecks of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse, sunk by the Japanese superheroes to muster
opportunities for the
in the opening days of the Pacific War. on the flight deck
ship’s company and
Taking part in Bersama Shield is not the sole ‘breakaway’ by after organising a
football, rugby and
Edinburgh. She left Lusty briefly in March to bolster Combined birdman contest.
cricket matches
Task Force 150, the Allied group of warships who patrol a vast area Some took
against local
– the Gulfs of Aden and Oman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the it seriously:
opposition.
Indian Ocean – in search of pirates, terrorists, people- and drug- PO(ACMN) Taff
And what would
traffickers and other criminals. Davies – aka The
a trip east of Suez
And then she was back again at Illustrious’ side, maintaining her Red Baron – went to
be without a spot of
watch of eternal vigilance. great lengths with his
skiing.
With fairly lengthy spells between port visits (upwards of 30 days, small red aircraft.
Before joining Konkan
no mean feat for a venerable Type 42), the ship’s company have had Some didn’t: a bloke
off India, Westminster
to let their hair down at sea. wearing dodgy permed wig
spent several days in Dubai for
And that’s something the RN’s very good at. The fun committee (worryingly a recurring theme
her mid-deployment stand-off.
aboard Edinburgh are (perhaps unsurprisingly) the POs’ mess, who this month...), fake ’tache, fake
The engineers got to grips
set about arranging a ‘fish and chips night’ (possibly with a fair bit hairy chest and a green sling
with a few small problems which
of input from the galley...). Fish and chips would not, of course, be bikini à la Borat really doesn’t
needed sorting, the logisticians
complete without curry sauce, pies and, for Edinburgh’s Scottish possess great aerodynamic
carried fresh stores aboard
contingent, battered sausages. properties.
and after three months away,
Suitably satiated, the sailors headed for the flight deck to belt out And some really have
Westminster received a fresh
the hits with an evening of karaoke. too much time on their
lick of paint on her hull.
hands: POLOGS(SC) Robbie There was a fair slice of
● Edinburgh provides
Robertson clinched the downtime too – and there’s
protection for RFA Wave
birdman title... dressed as a probably nowhere better in the
Knight in the Gulf of Oman
birdman (covered from tip to Gulf than Dubai to enjoy it.
toe in feathers, plus webbed Some sailors headed to the
feet – actually black rubber shopping centres, some popped
gloves). along the coast to Abu Dhabi to
“The amount of work some watch the Red Bull air race,
people put into their designs some headed into the desert
was incredible,” said organiser to go dune buggy racing, some
PO John Hocking. “It was good headed to the imposing Ski
to see everyone having fun.” Dubai venue, and some went
Now we don’t want to hash running (nothing to do with
give the impression that drugs, you will be pleased to
Westminster’s ship’s company hear, but a race involving running
enjoy dressing up... and drinking – not necessarily in
... But not long afterwards that order...).
they were in fancy dress again And sometimes you need to
as the frigate crossed the go no farther than your own
Equator. mess to have some fun.
So enter King Neptune Forces favourite Jim Davidson
(EWO WO1 Mark Hannibal), came aboard the ship to raise a
Queen Neptune (CPOET(WE) chortle, dining with the CO and
Pete Bolton) and baby Prince visiting every mess to entertain
Neptune (CPOET(WE) Dave the lads and lasses. He also
Haw) to preside over the invited Westminster’s golfers to
● ... and now the masters of fl ight show how it’s done as
Crossing the Line ceremony. play a round on his local course
Westminster’s Merlin lifts off for another sortie
No-one who had not sailed (the comedian lives in Dubai).
pictur
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A LEADING SPECIALIST IN MILITARY LAW
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