6 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2008
● Almost home... A familiar sight but an unfamiliar angle –
Gibraltar as seen from Nottingham’s quarterdeck
Eureka moments
IT’S half time and Manchester are more than a match
Considerable work was carried out by the Manchester team during a
for their bigger, more youthful counterparts.
two-week stand-down in Abu Dhabi.
Not a football score, but a statement of fact as destroyer HMS
Four months of Atlantic, Mediterannean and Gulf weather had taken
Manchester moves into the second half of her challenging deployment
their toll of the Type 42.
escorting the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman.
The whole upper deck received a washing in fresh water to rid it of
The Portsmouth-based warship sailed in November after being
the sand which numerous storms had deposited.
afforded the rare privilege of joining a US carrier strike group – the most
Manchester’s engineers got to grips with various tweaks and
potent task force on the Seven Seas – on a high-profi le deployment
overhauls required. Before leaving Pompey in November, they had
to the Gulf region.
crammed three sea containers with spares and other provisions…
Four months down the line, the Busy Bee – the ship takes
all of which were waiting for the destroyer when she arrived in
her nickname from her industrious crest – has slotted in neatly
the UAE port.
alongside 7,000 American and Canadian sailors (the Canadian
All work and no play makes Jack if not dull, then probably a
warship Charlottetown is also attached to the force).
bit fed up.
“For the Royal Navy, Manchester has proved that a UK
So there were numerous sporting activities arranged by
escort – even an ‘old girl’ like us – can integrate into a
the ship’s clubz, LPT Lou Clarke organised a football
thoroughly modern carrier group and do much much
match against a British school (won 5-0), a round of golf
more than just ‘tag along’,” said Lt Cdr Warren Lee,
on the Abu Dhabi National (which recently hosted the
Manchester’s weapon engineer offi cer.
European PGA tour), and a cricket match against the
Indeed she can. At times Manchester has been given
Emirates Palace Hotel (lost by fi ve wickets).
charge of security in the skies, ensuring Harry S Truman’s
The ship also hosted an offi cial reception once thoroughly
impressive air wing conducts its business safely, and has
spruced up, with guests including former premier Sir John
hosted an American command staff at short notice.
Major and soldiers from the ship’s affi liated regiment, 1st
“There have been many late nights when it seemed we would
Lancashire King’s, who were taking a break from a tour of
never achieve everything, then someone, somewhere would have a
duty in Basra.
‘eureka moment’ – and suddenly another piece of equipment was up
Manchester will remain in the Gulf attached to the Truman group
and running,” Lt Cdr Lee added.
until the summer.
“The fi nal – and most important – part of the success story has to be ● Angel on our shoulders... (l-r) Aviation Ordnancemen Joshua
the sailors of the strike group. Without the drive to make things work Olaiz, Kyle Blevins and Joshua Smith watch their constant guardian,
and the ability to learn new procedures and take on new roles, the HMS Manchester, from the fl ight deck of USS Harry S Truman
equipment would be worthless.”
Picture: Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Justin Losack, US Navy
Wingless
wonders
THERE seems to be a couple of themes running
through the pages of this month’s paper.
One is the readiness of our lads agencies and discuss security on
to don dodgy permed wigs and the high seas.
fake moustaches (see page 10 and A large chunk of the destroyer’s
pages 20-21). South Atlantic deployment
The other is to craft elaborate was spent keeping an eye on
costumes and leap off the flight movements by sea – particularly
deck into the oggin (see page 10). relevant in the mid-Atlantic where
Not sure about the former, but illegal trafficking of drugs and
there was certainly plenty of the people is not unusual.
latter as HMS Nottingham made The destroyer and her team
her way home across the Atlantic. demonstrated how they would
We last featured the Portsmouth- inspect a suspicious vessel, laying
based destroyer soaking up the on a mock boarding operation
sun in Rio. Thankfully, the fine involving their Lynx, their RIB
weather persisted as she headed and their boarding party, and the
north – allowing the ship’s Cape Verde Coastguard cutter
company to dress up for a birdman Espedarte, which was successfully
competition. inspected.
Superman (he gets around a Then it was back to sea to the
bit) was among the contestants, familiar surroundings of Gib for a
although his legendary ability to pit-stop before the final leg home.
BALLISTIC missile submarine HMS Vengeance headed to
fly seemed to desert him... and In precisely six months and
waters off Skye for fi ve weeks of intensive training before
the other competitors as well. No three days away, Nottingham
beginning the Navy’s No.1 mission.
aviator or aviatrix managed a flight steamed more than 25,000 miles,
Bomber’s away
The V-boat’s Starboard Crew took the 17,000-ton submarine
of more than two metres (7ft) off visited three continents and fi ve
to the BUTEC test ranges and beyond for Index (Independent
the destroyer’s flight deck, despite different countries (including four
Exercise) and BOST (Basic Operational Sea Training) – tests
various ingenious contraptions. separate visits to Brazil).
which any SSBN must pass ahead of a deterrence patrol.
But ET ‘Taff’ Claridge Highlights of the deployment
Because the Trident missile system is American, so
obviously impressed the judges included the wildlife and scenery
Vengeance (pictured below by PO(Phot) Mez Merrill) must
and took the birdman title – and of South Georgia and Rio where
go through a ‘mini demonstration and shakedown operation’
earned a flight in Nottingham’s the ship helped to commemorate
– ensuring its raison d’être is fully functioning.
Lynx as his prize. the 200th Anniversary of the
The starboard team – each SSBN has two crews so the
The first landfall for Nottingham Portuguese Royal Court’s arrival
bombers can maintain constant patrols – took charge of
after her three-week slog across in Brazil.
Vengeance just before Christmas.
the Atlantic was Cape Verde “The ship and her people have
For the next three to four months, the deeps brought the
(visited five months earlier in the done magnifi cently in the wide
boat – and the whole ship’s company – up to the highest
opening days of the destroyer’s range of operations they have
state of readiness, culminating in the five weeks at sea,
deployment). been asked to do over the last six
followed by the patrol itself.
The return visit was relatively months,” said CO Cdr Andrew
“Little is heard about the Navy’s four SSBNs – by
brief, but it did allow the ship Price. “They have been a credit to
definition, their mission does not appear in the limelight
to host local law enforcement the Service.”
like other elements of the Armed Forces,” said Cdr
Andrew McKendrick, Vengeance’s Starboard CO.
Bulwark leads task group
“The fact that they rarely feature in the press is
testament to the effectiveness of the patrols they
conduct.”
AMPHIBIOUS fl agship HMS Bulwark led British naval involvement
marina Age of Vengeance, pages 14-15
in the fi rst Neptune Warrior war game of 2008.
More than 30 units from the UK, Germany, France, Turkey,
Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland
and the USA were involved in the exercise – a test of Allied
prowess by land, sea and air in a complex political and military
environment.
Bulwark’s impressive command suite was taken over by
minewarfare experts, who used the nerve centre to direct their
group of warships.
The Devonport-based assault ship also hosted a group of VIPs
from the Scottish Parliament.
With Neptune Warrior done, Bulwark is heading fi rst for Belfast
then across the Irish Sea to Liverpool for a range of offi cial events.
She’s due to return to Devonport in the middle of this month for
a brief period of maintenance before deploying to the Baltic and
006_NN_May.indd 1 21/4/08 15:25:51
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