14 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2007
Stand by for
T
HE Black Duke readied herself for the
months ago).
‘business end’ of a nine-month Far East
The coastguard crews were given instruction on basic
deployment with an action-packed visit to
engineering support as well as the use of high-frequency
radios to plot and report contacts.
Cyprus. Yemeni Coastguard CO Col Lotf Barati was delighted at
HMS Monmouth took advantage of HMS Pursuer and “having the best navy in the world” provide assistance.
the Cyprus Squadron to prepare for what might come in The best navy in the world then challenged the
the Middle East and Indian Ocean, the current phase of Yemenis to a football match under the Middle East
her tour of duty. sun.
Archer-class patrol boats Dasher and Pursuer were And the best navy in the world wasn’t necessarily the
moved to Cypriot waters back in 2003 to beef up best football team in the world (it was a sporting defeat
security on the sea. but a diplomatic victory, as they say...).
● ‘Terror boat’ HMS Pursuer crashes through the waves off Cyprus
as she attempts to attack HMS Monmouth...
But the duo have also being increasingly used to Until the unrest of the 1960s, Yemen was a British
provide ‘forward training’ before RN ships transit the Suez colony and relics of British rule and the British community
and begin board and search operations in earnest. remain four decades on.
And so it was that Pursuer (pictured below) played the role of a A working party was dispatched to a cemetery in the heart
‘terror boat’, charging at the Devonport-based frigate and generally of Aden where many Britons were buried – including British
making a nuisance of herself. Servicemen killed in action during the conflict of the 1960s;
Dealing with the ‘terror boat’ proved an ample test for Monmouth Monmouth’s Commanding Officer Cdr Tim Peacock laid a wreath
crew charged with close protection duties – and for the ship’s in their honour.
boarding party who practised their rapid-roping skills from the Ex-pat Rev Peter Crooks asked the Black Dukes if they could tidy
frigate’s Merlin helicopter both at sea and ashore in Cyprus. the graveyard up – something they did despite the searing heat.
The ship’s 30mm and 4.5in guns have also been brought into The sailors trimmed trees, cleared pathways and rebuilt cast iron
action during the Black Duke’s time in the Med, despite rough fences – work the clergyman said would never have been done
weather which hounded the Type 23 frigate in the Middle Sea. without the Monmouth team’s vital input.
That rough weather spelled the end for merchant ship Aphrodite “Despite only one night alongside in Yemen, the Black Duke
S (but not before Monmouth’s Merlin and a Greek rescue helicopter achieved a huge amount,” said Cdr Peacock.
had plucked all her crew to safety, as we reported last month). “The welcome from the locals was extremely friendly and there’s
Apart from training, Cyprus offered a welcome second port of call no doubt that the stay was a success. We hope that future RN visits
on this deployment (the first was Mallorca). The ship’s rugby and can build on the solid foundations that we’ve laid.”
football teams both challenged the RAF to matches; the Monmouth Most recently, the frigate could be found in Kochi (Cochin) in
sides lost 40-5 and 3-1 respectively. (We’re told the heavily- India, where the ship was welcomed alongside by an Indian
supported after-match social events ended in a draw...) Navy band.
A dozen or so sailors had a go at the less conventional Kochi was the first formal visit of Monmouth’s deployment,
sport of dune buggying in the island’s Troodos mountains. hence there were numerous bigwigs aboard and the defence
After four days, Monmouth left Cypriot waters behind. The industry showed the ship’s Merlin helicopter off to the
lessons of the final training provided there were evident as Indians.
the frigate passed through Suez, closed-up with teams Barely had the VIPs left than Monmouth was
on watch constantly for anything suspicious. transformed into a pirate ship in the hands of Captain
On the other side of the canal, the ship paid a rare Jack and Long John Silver (aka CPOs James and
visit to Yemen – the first British frigate to call in at Aden Stapleton) who hosted more than 50 youngsters from a
in five years. nearby orphanage for a party.
● ... but there’s no escaping Monmouth’s Merlin when you can only
do 16kts fl at out
It was a whistle-stop visit at that – just 30 hours, and Also crammed into the four-day visit – the first by a
little time for rest in those 30 hours. RN ship to Kochi in more than four years – was a tour
Two teams from the Black Duke were loaned to the of (and fine meal aboard) INS Sutlej and a football match
Yemeni Coastguard (who benefited from the advice and against India’s Southern Command team (which ended in a
experience of HMS Bulwark’s sailors and Royal Marines 12 2-1 victory to the Brits).
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