2 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008
HMS Roebuck
HMS Hurworth HMS Dasher
HMS Pursuer
HMS Richmond
HMS Exeter
Armoured Support Group RM
846 NAS/FSMASU
HMS Sabre/Scimitar
HMS Ark Royal
HMS Chatham
HMS Somerset
539 ASRM
RFA Wave Ruler
3 Cdo Bde
HMS Montrose
HMS Nottingham
HMS Manchester
HMS Illustrious
HMS Edinburgh
HMS Westminster
HMS Campbeltown
HMS Ramsey
HMS Blyth
HMS Atherstone
HMS Chiddingfold
FASLANE
ROSYTH
814 NAS
Naval Strike Wing
RFA Wave Knight
HMS GANNET
RFA Lyme Bay
RFA Fort Victoria
RFA Argus
800/801 NAS
HMS Clyde
YEOVIL
TON
Plus one ballistic missile submarine on patrol somewhere beneath the Seven Seas
CULDROSE
PORTSMOUTH
DEVONPORT
Fleet Fleet FocusFocus
WE could begin our trawl of all things RN and RM with the
Pinging and buzzing
‘death star’ and her task force in the Gulf of Oman.
But we’ll come to HMS Illustrious later.
No, let us begin by thanking the men and women of HMS
Enterprise who’ve completed a 19-month deployment surveying
the waters of the world. And if you thought 19 months was a long
time (and it is), well Enterprise’s sister Echo has just departed on
a five-year survey mission (turn to page 5).
Enterprise, rightly, received a warm welcome home, as did the
ship’s company of HMS Argyll, back from a lengthy patrol of the
Gulf and environs (see page 7).
Also swapping dry and dusty for damp and green were the
Royals of 40 Commando whose tour of duty in Helmand has
ended (see page 4) – but not before the insurgents claimed the
lives of two more comrades.
While 40 Commando are celebrating being back in Blighty,
some of their green-bereted comrades are still in theatre: the
Armoured Support Group RM. We take a look at the training
these Viking warriors receive (see pages 20-21).
The Royals have been bolstered by the arrival of 600
extra bodies with an Army battalion, 1 Rifles, coming under
3 Commando Brigade’s control. The Marines took the soldiers
to Belize for some jungle warfare training (see page 12).
Right, back to the ‘death star’: Illustrious leads the Orion 08
task group – HMS Westminster and Edinburgh (see page 10),
HMS Trafalgar, RFAs Wave Knight and Fort Victoria, plus a
smattering of foreign warships – in the Gulf of Oman and Indian
● Somerset’s fl ight deck team prepare the ship’s Lynx ‘Duke’ for another day of sorties Picture: PO(Phot) Tam McDonald, FRPU North
Ocean. Lusty has been home to the Harriers of the Naval Strike
Wing, at sea for the first time in a year, and the submarine-hunting
FROM sea vampires to blue whales, but this is no
the NATO force cast its ‘net’ from the seas off Crete in the north to
Merlins of 814 NAS. Turn to page 23 for a four-page feature.
wildlife cruise for HMS Somerset.
Libya in the south and the emphasis switched to Operation Active
Frequently we’re accused of being ‘skimmer news’ or ‘carrier
The last time we caught up with ‘Super’ Somerset (a recent-ish
Endeavour once more.
news’ – usually by those chaps who prowl beneath the ocean.
addition to the list of ships’ sobriquets...) she was improvising in a
Somerset was at the bottom end of the ‘net’, patrolling the
Well, let us shed some light on the work of a strategic missile
‘battle’ against submarines during Exercise Noble Manta, one of
waters off north Africa.
submarine, HMS Vengeance. We joined the ‘bomber’ on work-
NATO’s biggest underwater exercises.
“Active Endeavour is a very serious business,” explained Cdr
up in Scotland (see pages 14-15).
If coping with six diesel boats wasn’t enough to keep the frigate
Wilson. “By vigilance and teamwork, various maritime and law
There’s more good news for the Silent Service this month with
on her toes, well there were even more threats to contend with in
enforcement agencies attempt to stem the flow of human traffic,
its latest missile, Tomahawk Block IV, cleared for action and
Turkey.
drugs and contraband into mainland Europe.
HMS Torbay returning from refit (see page 4).
The Devonport-based Type 23 frigate is currently attached to
“The idea is to saturate a known ‘trafficking’ route with warships
While we say ‘hello’ to Torbay, we say ‘farewell’ to 700M, the
NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 2 which prowls the Mediterranean
to build up the fullest picture of what is going on and, where
dedicated Merlin evaluation squadron. The Culdrose fliers have
and environs.
necessary, to board or track anything suspicious.”
squeezed just about all there is to squeeze out of the helicopter
The Turks had laid on quite an exercise, Mavi Balina (Blue
And if there’s nothing suspicious out there on the high seas,
this past decade and have decommissioned (see page 4).
Whale), for the group: a full-blown ‘war’ (minus the shooting)
then Somerset can practise her boarding skills against other ships
Merlin is at the cutting edge of anti-submarine warfare. So too
between the NATO force and the combined might of the Turkish
in the task force – or she can play the part of the merchantman and
is frigate HMS Somerset – providing her temperamental sonar
Mediterranean Fleet and some Pakistani warships.
allow the Allied sailors to board her.
isn’t on the blink. Which it is. But that hasn’t, of course, stopped
Oh, and there was the small matter of F16 jets and several
“For this our boarding officer assumes her thickest Scottish
her playing her full part in Operation Active Endeavour in the
submarines to contend with.
accent and, having mustered a few civilian-dressed scallywags to
Mediterranean (see right).
The latter would prove no problem, of course. Somerset would
act as her crew, plays the part of a merchant skipper who really
HMS Nottingham’s time in the South Atlantic has finally come
track them with her Sonar 2087 and pick them off long before the
doesn’t want the distraction of a NATO team visiting her steamer,”
to an end (see page 6), while HMS Liverpool’s spell there is just
submarines could close within firing range.
said Cdr Wilson.
beginning (see page 7).
The sonar proved to be somewhat temperamental during Noble
“We all enjoy the chance to ham it up a bit, but much can be
Liverpool will soon meet up with HMS Clyde, on constant
Manta, until the weapon engineering department waved their
gleaned from watching how other nations handle the challenge
watch in the Falklands. She has been paying her respects to the
magic wand.
of negotiating a compliant boarding. It’s a sophisticated and
men of 1982 (see page 13).
For Mavi Balina, the towed array was lowered into the water
potentially hazardous business – and there’s always something
On the other side of the South Atlantic, RFA Lyme Bay and a
once more and switched on.
new to learn.”
team of engineers beat the elements and repaired the harbour
“We fully expected the underwater picture to open up before us
Although this is a lengthy deployment – Somerset will be
facilities on the isolated island of Tristan da Cunha (see page 9).
like Pandora’s Box. Nothing. Zip. Nada,” said a frustrated CO Cdr
away from Devonport until high summer – one plus for the ship’s
HMS Manchester has passed the half-way point in her
Rob Wilson.
company is the frequency and variety of port visits as the NATO
guardianship of the USS Harry S Truman (see page 6), while half
The WE department waved their magic wand again. They task group hops around the Mediterranean and Adriatic.
a world away, Ark Royal has played host to the US Marine Corps
rebooted the software, reset everything, studied every inch of the There’s no doubt what the highlight has been: Haifa in Israel,
off the Eastern Seaboard (see page 11).
sonar’s wiring diagrams. not an especially common port of call for one of Her Majesty’s
warships... but one no man or woman on board will forget.
The work of NATO’s minehunters – currently led by HMS
The good news: they found the fault. The bad news: they
couldn’t fix it. The array will have to be changed... all 2,500 metres “The things we saw – and the vast majority of the team got away
Roebuck with HMS Hurworth among her flock – often go
of it. to Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, or both – were breathtaking,” said
unsung. We take a look at their work on page 8.
Thankfully, Somerset’s other weapons were fully functioning, Cdr Wilson.
And finally... HMS Quorn and Ledbury bade farewell to fish
which meant she escaped the ‘clash’ with the Turks and Pakistanis “Wherever you stand on Israel and the Middle East, there is
after 14 years and resumed their core duties: hunting mines.
relatively unscathed, although her ship’s company were tossed absolutely no doubt that the obvious tension and undercurrent
No such escape from fish for HMS Severn but at least they can
around a bit during some “hard and fast manoeuvring” at times. of danger gives Israeli society a zest for life that I have not felt
celebrate their efficacy at catching rogue trawlermen, earning the
After Mavi Balina, the Type 23 headed to the Mediterranean as anywhere else. The place is buzzing.”
Jersey Cup for their deeds (see page 5).
002_NN_May.indd 1 21/4/08 15:24:21
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