NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008 19
A lift
from
Clankies of
a Lynx
YACHTSMAN Jonny Malbon
the future
enjoyed a lift from a Lynx
helicopter as part of his
training for his upcoming solo
HMS Sultan once more
transatlantic yacht race.
became an Aladdin’s Cave
On board his life raft off
Portland Harbour the Artemis
for the young when school-
Ocean Racing skipper released
children from across the UK
smoke flares, and the Naval Lynx
flocked to the Gosport train-
from RNAS Yeovilton winched
ing establishment to take
him to safety, all good training for part in this year’s Young
both helicopter and yachtsman Engineers Challenge.
Picture: LA(Phot) Des Wade● It’s uckers, Jamie, but not as we know it...
for rescue at sea. Operation Wave Rider drew 30
Jonny said: “I am very grateful teams of youngsters down to the
fo the Royal Navy for giving me south coast as the children plotted
the opportunity to practise an the salvage of vital cargo from a
exercise that I hope I never have merchant vessel capsized and sunk Mucking about
to experience for real. in the South Atlantic – or in fact,
“The RN provide an inside specially-constructed water
invaluable service to seafarers in tanks in the Gosport base.
international waters and I think it The merchant vessel’s cargo of
gives all sailors on the water some containers were scattered along
with uckers
confidence knowing that they are the shore or sunk within the shal-
watching over us.” lows, and the crew of Type 45 HOW can you improve on Shipmates dismissed the idea of
The yachtsman should be HMS Defender called upon the perfection? uckers in 3D as too complicated.
confident in the RN – his father young masterminds to find a For decades, there has been no But uckers for six players – a
is Vice Admiral Sir Fabian means to recover these important finer way to pass the time aboard beautifully-crafted board has been
Malbon, former Deputy containers. one of His or Her Majesty’s created by the sub-lieutenant and
Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Capt Stuart Ellins, CEO of the warships than to roll those dice Lusty’s chippy, complete with new
now Lieutenant-Governor of Young Engineers organisation, and settle down for a (sometimes colours, pink and pussers’ grey
Guernsey. said: “The event certainly pro- heated) game of uckers. – has received a rather warmer
vided the teams with a stiff chal-
Until now perhaps. reception.
Cumbria
lenge.
For one officer has created the Not that anyone has been able
● Aspiring Young Engineers learn about science and technology at
“Not only did they have to
HMS Sultan
ultimate uckers experience... to finish a game yet, however.
design and build their own radio-
Enter Maltese uckers (or “Normally uckers lasts half
calling
controlled vessels to recover both Solent in one of the Navy’s Sea – exactly what the Royal Navy is
‘muckers’), a game for not four an hour or 45 minutes, but one
floating and submerged contain- Kings. all about.”
but six players, spread across a game of muckers went on for 90
ers, but their vessels had to have Kingston Grammar School The Royal Naval Challenge is
lengthened uckers board with the minutes with no result in sight,”
all terrain vehicles on board that from Surrey and John Hampden organised each year by the Young
Maltese cross in the centre. said Jamie.
MEMBERS of HMS
could be disembarked onto the Grammar School in High Engineers and a Naval team. Find
Muckers is the brainchild of S/Lt “Sadly, I’ve no time to play
Cumberland’s ship’s company
beach to recover washed-up con- Wycombe garnered the winner’s out more at www.youngeng.org.
Jamie Soughton, attached to HMS it myself, so I’ll leave the board
headed to Cumbria to cement the
tainers. laurels on the day. Meanwhile HMS Excellent
Illustrious for four months as part behind when I leave the ship.”
strong links between the Type 22
“You only had to see the con- Although the complexity of was the home of the FaraDay
of his young officer training. There is an incentive for players,
and the region.
centration on the faces of contest- the task meant that prizes were Event, set up by the Institution
The former architecture student nevertheless.
The ship was in Newcastle for
ants and hear the whoops of joy given for a wide gamut of impres- of Engineering and Technology
wanted to “give something back” “You can have a mixiblob of
a four-day visit but the chance to
when they succeeded to realise sive performances in ingenuity, (IET) to inspire a curiosity in sci-
and began beavering away on his 12 pieces – now that’s something
head cross country to the Lake
just how effective this event was presentation and design. ence among schoolchildren.
computer, determined to give everyone wants to hit,” Jamie
District was a powerful draw for
in exciting young people about Lt Andrew McAllister, one of The IET are staging a year-long
uckers a 21st-Century tweak. added.
the frigate’s crew.
The ship was granted the
engineering.” the organising committee at the Faraday programme with a dedi-
Freedom of Cumbria ten years
All the finalists in this year’s Sultan site, said: “What an amaz- cated website with videos, infor-
ago, and has close ties with the
challenge got to enjoy a day at ing day it was. mation and teaching resources.
40 years in silence
county, the Pride of Cumbria Air
HMS Sultan and a flight over “The teamwork and ingenu- Find out more at www.faraday.
Ambulance and the Sea Cadet
Portsmouth harbour and the ity of the schools were excellent theiet.org. AFTER almost 40 years in the Silent Service, submariner CPO Iain
units in Whitehaven and
MacKenzie spoke of his pride in being a deep after collecting his MBE
in Gosforth.
from the Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Cdr Peter Sparkes,
Iain’s wife Sheila and his mother-in-law Jessie Stewart were there to
Cumberland’s commanding Advance and be recognised
see the submariner made a Member of the British Empire.
officer, said: “It is always a
He said: “I was keen to share my big day with them. Despite the
pleasure to visit Cumbria and to
inclement weather the pride I felt of being awarded the MBE could not
WHEN Mne Steve Hernaman announced that The band’s logo might also be familiar to mili-
renew old friendships.
be dampened.
he wanted to leave the Royal Marines, he was tary sight – the Figure 12 target.
“Visits such as these allow
“It was not until I was walking the corridors of Buckingham Palace
told that he had the entire officers’ mess talking Steve’s brother Chris Tillett, another former
us to give something back to
that it really hit me what an honour had been bestowed upon me.”
about him and what he was going to do next... Marine, although not a musician himself, has
and show our support for a
The honour was in recognition of his years of unparalled service to the
But he refused to tell them – until the final day been looking after the affairs of the band
community which in turn has
Navy’s submarine fleet – a service that ended last month.
when his commanding officer confronted him – which has become an increasingly demand-
show us so much support over
He added: “The submarine service is everything to me – how could it
with “Come on, what are you going to do?” ing task.
the years.
not be, it’s been my life for nearly four decades.
And Steve replied: “Well, I’m going to go into Ease Springs have gone from strength to
“It’s a great way of saying
“I look forward to giving something back to it in the form of the
the music business.” strength, performing gigs across the south and
thank you.”
Submariners Association and the International Submariners Association
As career paths go, it was a bit of a break in London to audiences of up to 22,000.
– I am an active member of both.”
from the traditional Marine route of bodyguard Now Steve has his ambitions set on the V
Bravo Briggs
or police force. Festival, with votes needed to put Ease Springs
But music and performing had taken hold on the Road to V competition.
HMS Bulwark’s PO Ian ‘Johnny’
of Steve, and wouldn’t let go. So in 2003 he He describes the music that the three-piece
Briggs has been named Man of
formed Ease Springs. play as alternate-pop-rock-indie; and he can be NEED initial FREE
the Year for 2007.
“The name comes from the firing ranges,” found centrestage as guitarist and lead-singer.
PO Briggs was employed in
says the former machine-gunner. “It’ll probably Steve admits: “I would like to head out to
the Weapon Engineering depart-
be recognised in the military world by the whole the Middle East and perform for all the lads LEGAL ADVICE?
ment, responsible for maintaining
of the British Forces. out there. I know that our type of music is what
the Goalkeeper weapon system.
“It’s the word of command when the work- they’d really go for.”
Then contact:
At short notice he acted as the
ing parts of the rifle move forward into the Ease Springs’ first single Somewhere in
Weapons Group Head where he
breech.” Between is released online on April 21, and will
offered strong leadership and
“We came up with it one night when we were be available to download from iTunes.
encouragement to the team.
having a beer, me and my brother – I never had Find out more about the band and get them
Johnny described himself as
any intention of leaving to form a band then on the Road to V through their website: www.
“shocked to have won”.
– but the name stuck.” easesprings.com
America
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THE commanding offi cer of the
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Capt Brian Shepherd, spent the
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day at the Defence Maritime Lo-
gistics School to fi nd out more
or
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Cdr Phil Waterhouse said: “The
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RN and US Navy increasingly
operate together at sea and on
for a Local Lawyer who
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COURTS MARTIAL • DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES • EMPLOYMENT
During his time in the UK, the
and REINSTATEMENT of RESERVE FORCES PERSONNEL • SERVICE
US officer also visited the Defence
INVESTIGATIONS • CRIME • HOUSE or BUSINESS PURCHASE
College of Logistics and Personnel
Administration in Deepcut and the
or SALE including LSAP’s • DIVORCE CHILDREN PENSIONS and
Defence Equipment and Supplies
TERMINAL GRANTS • ACCIDENTS and COMPENSATION • ARMED
FORCES COMPENSATION SCHEME PREVIEW • WILLS or ● Capt Brian Shepherd, the commanding offi cer of the US Navy Supply Corps School, chats to junior
HQ in Andover.
offi cers who are undergoing training at the Defence Maritime Logistics School in HMS Raleigh DEATH of a RELATIVE
018-019_NN_may08.indd 2 21/4/08 10:09:19
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