12 NAVY NEWS, AUGUST 2008
632
IIn the Ln the Lyymelightmelight
W
E COULD call
amphibious ship, Rotterdam time and with costs going up, One in three Lyme Bayers
her one half
(which is slightly smaller and the MOD asked shipwrights in yomped to the top of Queen
Class: Bay Class Landing Ship
Dock (Auxiliary)
of ‘Lager and
has a longer superstructure). Govan to finish fitting her out. Mary’s Point, the extinct volcano
Pennant number: L3007
The function of all the vessels Which they did. Nine weeks which dominates the island (and Builder: Swan Hunter, Wallsend/
Lyme’. is to move troops and kit from ahead of the revised schedule, is half as high again as Ben BAE Systems, Govan
But whilst that makes a nice ship to shore. Lyme Bay was handed over to Nevis).
Laid down: 2003
catchphrase, it’s not strictly In the case of the Bays, they the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the Surprisingly given the historic
Launched: August 27 2005
true. form the second wave of an summer of 2007. bay for which she is named –
Commissioned: August 8 2007
For RFA Lyme Bay is actually amphibious assault behind Since then she’s been rather home to fossils and major pre-
Displacement: 16,190 tonnes
Length: 176m (577ft)
one quarter of a formidable HM Ships Albion, Bulwark and busy. Normandy invasion exercises
Beam: 26.4m (86ft)
quartet who are revolutionising Ocean. She’s affiliated herself with – the current Lyme Bay is the Draught: 5.8m (19ft)
the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Using a combination of landing the county town of Dorset, first bearer of the name in either Speed: 18kts
amphibious operations. craft and Mexeflotes (powered Dorchester. the RN or RFA. There has been
Complement: 68 (space for up
The latter have been to barges) via the flooded dock And she’s won the hearts of a a smattering of Lymes and one
to 135)
the fore recently with the and Chinooks, Sea Kings and small community thousands of Lyme Regis, however.
Range: 8,000 miles at 15kt
new landing support ship – Merlins from the sprawling flight miles away.
Propulsion: diesel-electric; 2 x
azimuth thrusters aft, 1 x bow
the correct official term is deck, in excess of 350 Royal Lyme Bay was dispatched on
es
● The tug Powerful helps RFA thruster
landing ship dock (auxiliary) Marines and their kit can be Operation Zest to Tristan da
Lyme Bay into Portsmouth Embarked forces: up to 356
– exercising with the Royal ferried ashore by Lyme. There’s Cunha.
Harbour for the fi rst time
Royal Marines (space for an
Marines in the West Country space for another 150 troops on The ship and her mix of RN,
Picture: PO(Phot) Dave Gallagher,
additional 150 on a temporary
(see pages 14-16). a short-term basis for a major RAF and Army engineers and FRPU East
basis)
Exercise South West operation. medics faced a race against
Capacity: 1,200m (3,900ft)
Leopard was the culmination Lyme and her sister Largs time to fix the remote island’s
of load capacity – up to 36
Challenger II tanks or 150
of Lyme Bay’s period with Bay were built at the Swan harbour before the onset of the
smaller vehicles; 2 x Mexeflote
Flag Officer Sea Training in the Hunter yard; the other two Bays austral winter. powered rafts; floodable
West Country. were constructed at It is something which was loading dock for 2 x Landing
Hot on the heels of the Govan. accomplished just in time – the
Craft (Vehicle/Personnel) or 1 x
Leopard came Dutch Navy It’s fair to say foul weather set in as the last
Landing Craft (Utility)
Days in Den Helder... where that Lyme Bay of the emergency repairs were
Helicopter: flight deck can
you’d also find her ‘step sister’. had a difficult completed.
accommodate helicopters up to
Chinook size
(We’ll have a report from the birth. When Not all the time spent on
show in next month’s paper.)
Facts and figur
Swan Hunter the South Atlantic island was
Lyme and her three failed to spent toiling on the harbour,
sisters are based on a Dutch finish her on however.
RED
Bournemouth Seafront
ARROWS
on Friday
28 - 31 August 2008
Saturday
& Sunday!
HEROES OF THE ROYAL NAVY No.52
Lt Eric William Kevin Walton, AM
THE frozen continent is the most unforgiving environment on the planet – and one of which the Royal
Navy has bitter experience.
Three decades after Capt Scott’s ill-fated attempt to be the fi rst man to the South Pole, covetous
British eyes fi xed upon Antarctica once again.
In the latter stages of WW2 – and with one eye on the post-war world – His Majesty’s Government
looked to stake a claim to at least parts of Antarctica by establishing permanent bases.
This military operation, Tabarin, morphed into the rather more innocuously-sounding Falkland
Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) in the immediate aftermath of war.
The aim was largely the same… and many of those attached to FIDS were military men.
Engineer Lt Eric William Kevin Walton – known by friends as Kevin – was one such member of FIDS,
a keen mountaineer and veteran of some of the decisive naval battles of World War 2.
His skill in the former and the same bravery he displayed in the latter
would combine to save the life of Maj John Tonkin on August 24 1946.
The two offi cers were in a party sledging across the ice when Tonkin
tried to cross a poorly-bridged crevasse.
He vanished from sight and plunged 40ft, stopping only when his
body became wedged between two sides of the chasm.
His comrades tossed ropes down to him in a bid to haul him out.
Tonkin managed to loop them around his forearms, but no further –
and all efforts to pull the major out failed.
It was at this point that Walton volunteered to save his comrade.
First he was lowered by rope to a wider part of the crevasse, then
he worked his way along to Tonkin and began chipping away at the
ice.
The space was too confi ned to use an ice axe; the spike had to be
sawn off so Walton could use it as a hand tool.
Five times the sailor was lowered into the crevasse. Most of the
time he worked in the darkness, and much of that was spent hanging
upside down. It took three hours in all, but Tonkin was freed and fi nally
brought to the surface.
It would be almost two years before Walton was gazetted for the e
www.bournemouthair.co.uk
Albert Medal for “persistence most commendable”. It was, his citation rreads,
“solely due to his efforts that Maj Tonkin was fi nally rescued”.
Tel: 0845 051 1700
The recipient dismissed his deeds on the ice as an act of bravery; he was e was
the right man in the right place at the right time and did what anyone would ould
Bournemouth Tourism have done in the same situation.
The Albert Medal joined an impressive array of medals, notably the e
Westover Road Bournemouth BH1 2BU
DSC for fi refi ghting during the Battle of the Barents Sea in HMS Onslow
and a Mention in Dispatches for his role in the destruction of two
U-boats with HMS Duncan.
It would not be Kevin Walton’s sole award for deeds in the southern
SUPPORTED BY
hemisphere; six years later he led another crevasse rescue on South
Georgia earning him a Silver Commendation for Brave Conduct.
He remains an active member of the Victoria Cross and George
Cross Association (surviving Albert Medal winners were allowed
to exchange their awards for the GC in 1971), attending a service of
commemoration to mark the 150th ‘birthday’ of the VC at Westminster r
Abbey in 2006.
Official Car
Hospitality Supplier
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