6 NAVY NEWS, JULY 2008
All change,
please, for
Southampton
A prince and a duke
A LARGE crowd gathered on the THE complement of Her Majesty’s Ship Iron
those we care about for such a long period of time, but “If we treated him like some super-VIP and
jetty next to HMS Southampton
Duke will soon be 185 souls plus one with
that is offset by the knowledge that the ship’s company tailored a programme for him and walked around on
to capture one of the more
impressive sights in naval
Prince William joining the frigate on drug-
is trained, ready and capable of doing all that is asked eggshells, then it would be diffi cult,” Rear Admiral
of us.” Bob Cooling, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, told Royal
engineering: an engine change.
busting duties. Some of the training which Cdr Newland’s sailors correspondents.
A Rolls-Royce Tyne engine
The future monarch is spending two months attached have gone through is currently being undertaken by “He is going to come in just like any other young
to be precise, lifted out of the
to the Senior Service – including fi ve weeks with the S/Lt Wales including sea safety/survival and fi re- offi cer and do all the things young offi cers get involved
bowels of the Saint during a spell
Portsmouth-based frigate. fi ghting. in.
of maintenance for the Type 42 in
Whitehall could have picked few better vessels to The prince has also received a whistle-stop
Portsmouth Naval Base.
introduce the prince – who will hold the rank of sub- introduction to the Senior Service, its history and ethos
“We don’t have passengers out in warships for
The Tyne – a maritime version
lieutenant – to the Royal Navy. and some basic seamanship training.
obvious reasons and he will need to be able to
of a jet which powered airliners
The Type 23 left Portsmouth late last month bound As with his brother’s tour of duty in Afghanistan
pull his weight in an emergency.”
and military aircraft – is one of
for the Caribbean having received plaudits from naval with the Army, there was something of a media First stop for the prince was not the mangroves
two which powers the Saint at
trainers. frenzy surrounding the announcement of S/Lt Wales’ and golden shores of the Caribbean but the lush,
cruising speed (the destroyer uses
Iron Duck received the rare distinction of an ‘excellent’ impending attachment to Iron Duke. rolling terrain of Devonshire and Britannia Royal Naval
the less-economical RR Olympus
mark from Flag Offi cer Sea Training, the Devonport- The Royal watchers at the Daily Mail offer this (not College, which his father attended nearly four decades
engines for higher speeds – they
based organisation which prepares all RN vessels for entirely accurate) insight into the life of a junior offi cer: ago – and his grandfather 70 years ago.
generate more than four times as
the rigours of front-line action.
much shaft horse power as the
Iron Duke’s Commanding Offi cer Cdr Mark Newland
He will be woken at 6.30am and be at breakfast
Having already passed out of Sandhurst as a trained
Tynes).
said the eight-week stint at FOST, the fi nal act of
by 7.15am, where he will have a choice of a full
Army officer, S/Lt Wales didn’t have to go through all
As it’s not an everyday
preparation for deployment following his frigate’s
English or cereal and fresh fruit.
the rigmaroles of new-entry officer training.
occurrence, a sizeable number of
emerging from refi t last September, had demanded a
The Navy advises crew to make breakfast a
But there are some nautical duties no sailors can
escape, not even heirs to the throne... such as releasing
ship’s company and naval base
“huge effort” from his team – a huge effort which was
‘hearty’ meal to provide energy for their busy
the anchor chain with a rather large hammer.
staff watched the old engine
more than worthwhile.
regime.
Except said chain refused to budge, which, in fine
being hauled out of the ship via
“I am proud that we were assessed as
Lunch is typically a choice of cottage pie, roast
RN tradition, meant the Royal had to buy a crate of
the intakes which normally feed
being amongst the best British warships
chicken, vegetarian lasagne or a salad, while the
beer for fellow cadets (he can probably afford it – Ed).
air to the gas turbines.
to have completed FOST over the past
supper menu will be soup followed by a ‘meat
As for Iron Duke, she’s away from Portsmouth until
Now with her new Tyne
two years,” he added.
and veg’ dish, a pudding or, sometimes, a
the end of the year with the bulk of her time devoted to
installed, Southampton is
“Everyone is excited about the
fi lling Welsh rarebit.
suffocating the drug trade.
gearing up for a series of training
coming deployment – many When not tucking into ‘Welsh rarebit’ To that end a team from the US Coast Guard will
exercises around the UK.
younger members of the (not something any of the Navy News also join the frigate to conduct the counter-narcotics
And although she’s an old lady,
ship’s company have never team has eaten in more than 30 mission.
at least Southampton’s wardroom
deployed before and are years’ experience of working In addition, the ship will be available for disaster
have mastered the art of looking
looking forward to the with the RN), senior offi cers relief operations should natural disaster strike during
ten years younger.
experience. say the Royal will play a full the hurricane season.
Sadly, they’ve not found the
“There is a little role aboard the frigate
Holy Grail or mastered the secret
sadness as the for the duration of his
● Iron Duke leaves Portsmouth bound for her date with
of eternal youth.
ship leaves attachment.
a prince Picture: LA(Phot) Simmo Simpson, FRPU East
Nope, the average age of
officers has fallen from 35 to
25 thanks to an influx of seven
young officers who’re spending
four months with the Saint for
their Common Fleet Time.
Common Fleet Time is
intended to give trainee officers
the full RN experience – it’s the
same for logistics, warfare or
engineer officers.
And that means getting
involved in every aspect of ward-
room life, from watchkeeping and
rounds to creating the weekly
menu and, crucially, providing
4 o’clockers (afternoon tea and
stickies for the ship’s company).
On leaving Southampton, the
seven rookie officers face a Fleet
Board exam and, if successful,
move on to specialist training.
Kent’s bucket
fl oweth over
THIS is the moment the Navy’s landing (STOVL) model of the conducting various systems the JSF which will be the punch
LONG before thoughts of
jet of the future took to the sky supersonic fi ghter-bomber, and handling checks; he took off of future carriers HMS Queen
Return of
royalty entered the minds
for the fi rst time. rather than the conventional and landed in the conventional Elizabeth and Prince of Wales
of HMS Iron Duke’s ship’s
The jump jet version of jets already fl ying. manner – something the and will be fl own by Fleet Air
company (see above right), there
the Joint Strike Fighter, the Neither the short take-off JSF can do as well as those Arm and RAF pilots.
the Saint
was the more pressing matter
successor to the Harrier, made nor vertical landing ability were rapid launches and pin-point Having overcome its initial
of Type 23 pride.
its maiden voyage in the skies tested, however, when former landings. hurdle, the F35B will now
YOU’VE not read about HMS
The Ducks challenged HMS
of Texas. Harrier pilot Graham Tomlinson Whitehall has undergo more rigorous
St Albans for a long time because
Kent to the Rock Race when
Versions and prototypes climbed into the cockpit at invested test fl ights, in
she’s been in refi t north of the
the two frigates arrived in
of the Joint Strike Fighter – Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth £1.8bn particular to
border.
Gib at the beginning of their
offi cially designated the F35 – works and took the F35B out in test its short
But not any more.
respective deployments.
have been airborne for several for a ‘spin’. take-off and
The Type 23 frigate has
And the men of Kent won
years. He was airborne for 46 vertical landing
been out of action for the past
the scramble to the top of the
But Britain has ordered a minutes, climbing features.
12 months as shipwrights,
1,300ft peak, Mid Cator posting
short take oof/ vertical to 15,000ft and
technicians and electronics
the quickest time of the runners Picture: Lockheed Martin
experts at Babcock in Rosyth
in under 24 minutes.
beavered around her.
Sport continued back on
The £10m package of
board Kent, with a memorial
improvements to the Portsmouth-
contest in honour of MEM Chris
based include:
Devling.
Chris died following a fall in
■ Sonar 2087, the world’s
Rome during a run ashore two
best submarine-hunting kit;
years ago, but his name lives
■ hangar and flight deck
on in the form of the Devling
adapated for Merlin
Cup which fosters inter-mess
helicopter
camaraderie.
■ new 30mm automatic gun
The honour of lifting the
enhanced communications.
cup went to the 42-man mess With all these additions and
who triumphed at bucket ball enhancements made, St Albans
– a cross between netball and put to sea for the first time at the
rugby (supposedly) minus the beginning of June for six weeks of
contact element. sea trials.
While Iron Duke is heading Not quite, but almost, ready
west to the Caribbean, Kent will for sea is HMS Ocean which has
sail as far east as China during emerged from dry dock after six
her six-month deployment to months.
Asia. The sluices in the dock in
She is now ploughing Devonport were opened 13 days
through the Med conducting ahead of schedule and by the
maritime security patrols time you read this, the ship’s
keeping tabs on movements by company should be filing aboard
other ships on the high seas. ahead of taking the helicopter
“Since February this year carrier to sea next month.
my entire crew has undergone Ocean has received some
specialist training and we
JJet’et’ss high T high Teex performance x performance
£30m of TLC and improvements
are now ready for anything, at the hands of Babcock Marine,
anywhere in the world – be it including an overhaul of her
boardings, disaster relief or machinery, accommodation and
fighting terrorism,” said Kent’s galley, plus better facilities for
CO Cdr Simon Hopper. hosting Apache gunships.
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