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10 NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2008
● Ominous skies, ominous
seas and a ruddy great iceberg
as seen from HMS Liverpool
returning from South Georgia
The bergs and the bees
NORMALLY you’ll fi nd
operation, Clyde was sailing
Liverpool and Clyde were clear Red Plummers headed to the
HMS Endurance dodging
the 80 nautical miles around
of danger could their companies Orphans Cry Orphanage in
● Behind you, Part 1... Two Imperial cormorants look decidedly
huge slabs of ice while
South Georgia and the South
relax. Takoradi in western Ghana to
unimpressed by the appearance of HMS Clyde in South Georgia
Sandwich Islands carrying out
Liverpool and Clyde
refurbish the building.
fishery protection duties – laws
“At one point, the task at
The Red Plum is on an
enjoy more temperate
of the ocean must be enforced
hand was driven home by
the fact that in an area
18-month deployment away
climes.
even so far from the mother
but 12 square miles in
from Portsmouth; rather than
But who says such things are
country.
size, there were in excess
return to the UK at the end of the
set in stone?
“This is one of the most
of 50 different icebergs
Austral summer, the ship headed
Not the planners at Fleet HQ,
inhospitable and challenging
showing on the ship’s
to South Africa once her work
who decided to dispatch the
maritime environments in the
radars,” said Cdr Wood.
around Antarctica was done for
Red Plum to the warmth of West
world and the ability to provide a period of maintenance.
Africa and Clyde and Liverpool
defence of our most southern That’s something HMS That unique overhaul in
to a land of a snow and ice.
dependencies in the midst of a Endurance is all too familiar with Simon’s Town spared her a long
That’s where we last caught
South Atlantic winter would test – but at the moment it’s heat, journey home (and chopped the
up with the patrol vessel and
the ship and its team to their humidity and creepy crawlies fuel bill down substantially) and
destroyer, plus their trusty tanker
limits,” said Cdr Craig Wood, rather than snow and ice which gave her ship’s company several
RFA Black Rover, in our August
Liverpool’s CO. the ice survey ship has to weeks to soak up life around the
issue, beginning a disaster relief/
“Exercise Cape Reach contend with. Cape.
emergency exercise.
demonstrated the ability of After a spell of TLC in Simon’s The ship’s small Royal Marine
Equally important, however,
a warship – in this case two Town, South Africa, the Red detachment spent fi ve days
was a chance to test the speed
warships – to transit hundreds
Plum has begun inching up with the newly-formed South
with which units based in the
of miles, with a land force
the west coast of the Dark African Maritime Reaction
Falklands, more than 850 miles
embarked, at short notice, that
Continent. Squadron which performs a mix
away, could respond to the need
provides the UK’s very real
The survey ship is using her of force protection, security and
to defend South Georgia against
ability to operate in often very
hi-tech equipment to improve interdiction operations.
a hostile invader, Exercise Cape
inhospitable conditions with all
charts of African waters, but The commandos shared their
Reach.
the arms of the military.”
above all she is spreading the experience of unarmed combat
So a sizeable number of troops
With South Georgia
word about the possible impact and entering hostile buildings,
from the Roulement Infantry
successfully ‘defended’ it was
of climate change – something fi rst showing how they did it,
Company plus the Falkland
time to go home – easier said
which her work in Antarctica has then taking the South Africans
Islands Defence Force (the
than done.
given her a unique insight. through the various steps on
islands’ militia/Territorial Army)
The transit home, weaving
The brightly-coloured vessel unarmed fi ghting and what it
squeezed aboard Liverpool in between icebergs (think
was visiting Ghana, Sierra can be used for.
before being landed by Lynx. Titanic), bergy-bits (the size of
Leone and Nigeria for a series The Reaction Squadron
Sea power is, of course, key a house) and growlers (the size
of seminars and discussions stepped up from simple parries
to any successful defence of of a kennel), was one that would
on the role of climate change – to a two-man guard take-down
South Georgia, but so too is air test and prove the capacity and
and explaining how developing (which involves, er, taking down
power. professionalism of everyone
nations could make better use a guard stealthily).
Hercules based in the onboard.
of the sea for the benefi t of all. Once it became clear that the
Falklands flew round trips to Iceberg lookouts,
Her stop in Accra, Ghana, South Africans had mastered
air-drop supplies on to the ice- watchkeepers, operations
coincided with an eight-day these basics, they were shown
laden isle, even in the depths of room and damage control
United Nations conference – the how to clear out a building
● Behind you, Part 2... HMS Endurance’s Royal Marines
the austral winter. teams all had to exercise the
Convention on Climate Change occupied by the enemy – a skill
demonstrate the art of the unarmed take-down
While Liverpool led the highest vigilance and only once
– and the ship played host to which is equally relevant in the
military, political and scientifi c maritime world, with ship’s
leaders. compartments replacing rooms.
It will be years, decades The week with the MRS also
specialist legal advice
perhaps, before efforts to tackle gave the Royals a chance to
climate change have tangible brush up their skills before
results. returning to sea; Endurance is
to forces personnel
Some problems in Africa conducting maritime security
demand immediate results – operations up the west coast
and they got them. of Africa as well as her more
A substantial number of traditional survey work.
Suffered a Military Injury?
We deal with all types of injury claim involving
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● Endurance leaves Cape Town after a brief fuel stop bound for
We can assist you with your claim under the
Ghana Picture: LA(Phot) Kaz Williams, HMS Endurance
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Tel: 01522 512345 between 9am - 5.15pm
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We can also advise on:
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A LEADING SPECIALIST IN MILITARY LAW
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