This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2008 25
has also had a few from the mine-hhashaas also soo hadh a feww frfrf ommm ththethe mi miine-nee the interesting parththehhee inini teterrestststiinginngng papap rrttt t and on occa- anda d onn oc oococcaca-a-
hunter on board,hununu terr onono boboard,a, a an eernen eeerily fily ly faamil-mil- sions the challengsions ss thet chchallalllenge ingining par pppartt..” burns ns
iar visit to the foriiar viv sit to thheefformmer Hunt-class erer Hunt-ct--class He added:HHe added:ed: “It’“IIt’t’s’s been incred-s beenen inci rred- in
HMS Bicester. And the Estonian ibly enjoyable to see the grow- the eyes
ENS Admiral Cowan benefited ing capability of the new NATO of the surveyors.
from a few tips on RASing from states, and to see the investment minehunting “This is a
those who had served on the sib- that they are putting into their man at the thought contingent task, this
lings of the once HMS Sandown. platforms.” of finding some dangerous is a role that Roebuck and
And there is a real keenness on The build-up to Noble Midas relic to blast from the seabed. the other survey vessels Echo
board among everyone from offic- has brought its own excitement CPO Briggs on Roebuck, a and Enterprise are scoped to
ers to junior rates to get a chance on board Ledbury. PO ‘Ginge’ minewarfare man through and perform, but we generally don’t
to see inside the other nations’ Wilcockson explained: “It was just through, is just the same: “Some end up doing it for a year.
ships and see the different ways an accident. I saw a huge contact of the German mines down there “To be honest we struggled at
that they do the same job. that we could check our sonar look like they’ve been lain yester- the beginning of the year because
Executive Officer Lt Daniel with – and I was interested to see day. They look brand new. it was so new, but once we’d
‘Doc’ Morris states: “It’s been what it was. “To know that we’re actually proven our capability, we’ve been
enlightening. “Because of where we were, I clearing the area, as some of these on top of it for months now,”
“Every day’s a school day – thought it might be but I didn’t nations rely so much on tourism, admits Roebuck’s CO.
you never stop learning. Between quite believe it.” or large ferries and ships going in “The ship is in the best mate-
myself and our CPO this morning In the CO’s own words when and out, is so important. rial state that she’s been in since
during our visit to the German he saw the sonar image: “Bloody “When we clear the area it gives I joined her. She was due to
ship, we got two new ideas to hell, it’s a plane.” a real buzz.” come out of service in 2003, but
bring back here.” Normally the grainy sonar This will be the penultimate because of the Gulf War she was
It’s something that CPO Terry image, even in the inestimable major act for HMS Roebuck dur- reactivated.
‘Basher’ Briggs of the battlestaff Sonar 2193 of the Hunt class, ing her long deployment – 11 “In terms of operational capa-
on board HMS Roebuck has is almost impossible to decipher months of 13 at sea – before a bility this ship is as good as she’s
appreciated. to my inexpert eyes, but even I brief return to UK shores, then ever been – we’re getting loads
“It’s opened my eyes to what can see the shape of the plane back to Denmark for the handover out of it. While we’re not doing
other people do. found on the seabed of the Bay of ceremony where the lead of the our core role – and we won’t have
“The core side of minehunting Taranto (see picture left). NATO group will be taken by the surveyed for 18 months by the
is very similar. There are slight The minehunter sent down Danes. time we get back to it so it’s going
subtle differences as to how we its PAP (yellow submersible) And perhaps a collective sigh of to be a hell of a challenge there –
conduct day-to-day business. It’s to investigate, and its camera relief will be heard on board the what we’re seeing is much more
interesting to integrate with them recorded crystal-clear footage of a somewhat tired but remarkably dynamism in terms of leadership,
so that we come to a level where crashed aeroplane with a fractured cheerful British ship. really adept use of seamanship
we all have a good understanding tail and broken engines lying upon Commanding Officer Lt Cdr drills, we’re growing and increas-
of what we do. the seabed, an aircraft believed to Matt Syrett pulls no punches: “In ing our flexibility.
“There were some slight teeth- be a wartime German bomber. terms of this year, it’s just been “My ship’s company have done
ing problems, but they were soon Coxswain PO Diver Eddie very long, it’s just been incred- remarkably well. The junior rates
ironed out. We can adapt to learn Edmundson led a team down to ibly long. have always been a key strength
from their practices, and possibly the wreck, checking for the bombs “We’re just getting to the stage of Roebuck – they’re the heart
bring it back to the Royal Navy. that defined its role or traces of where we’ve all seen this before. and soul of this unit. And at times
It’s really worked out well.” its aircrew. There needs to be a new chal- we’ve had to endure a number of
Cdr Davies commented: “It’s He said: “It was interesting. lenge. We’re now not stretched. fast-moving changes.
an honour to command a NATO The discovery was uncharted. We You could give us an awful lot “But I have a happy ship’s com-
group. We do meet some interest- had a good look around it and more and we wouldn’t squeal. I pany, and we’ve all worked bloody
ing individuals and see the way underneath it – there was nothing don’t think Roebuck has said no hard to achieve that.
our European allies go about solv- dangerous or in the cockpit. I’ve to anything we’ve been asked to “One of my able seamen before
ing the same problem – a mine on never dived on an old World War do this year, we’ve said: ‘we’ll give this deployment had never gone
the seabed. 2 plane before.” that a go’. further east than Ostend nor west
“They all come with subtly dif- The discovery has been report- “So in terms of skill fade and than Brest, never done action sta-
ferent ways of doing it. This sort ed to the Italian authorities, and the loss of professional survey tions, and had never done a RAS.
of group gives the UK exposure to potentially a new wreck or war- ability I don’t see that as being a Well, he’s now gone everywhere
their methods. grave will be added to the world’s great deal of worry because we’ve between Norway, Lithuania and
“If one ship doesn’t necessarily seafaring charts. just parked it, December 31 last Greece – some really outstanding
have the best capability for that Roebuck herself, not quite able year we got rid of all our survey visits.”
particular mine task in those con- to leave her survey hat at home, equipment, notes and capability Lt Cdr Syrett leans back and
ditions, then someone else has. located a wreck in the tanker but we made a clean break of it. sums up his ship’s NATO deploy-
“We’ve had a number of other anchorages off Lithuania in May, “There’s a seed kernel of expe- ment with a smile: “Every time
units attached with differing tech- which was a useful piece of new rience, which is why we found the divers go down on our hull, they
niques – a different way to do information for the authorities. wreck off Lithuania, but we’re all remark how clean it is. The rea-
business. And all on board Ledbury are really looking forward to actu- son why it’s clean is because we
“It’s swings and roundabouts looking forward to the period of ally building the survey capability haven’t stopped all year.
– that’s the challenge. It’s easy live ops coming up, searching the again.” “It’s bloody hard for barnacles
to become slightly myopic in the seas off France for the remains of The year within NATO has to grow on your hull if you don’t
ways of doing our business. wartime battles. brought a range of new skills stop long enough for them to
“But that’s the exciting part, There’s a specific light that to the traditional roles of the cling on.”
belia; (left) sonar image of a crashed aircraft, and, below it, other users of underwater sonar in the Mediterranean... Credit: Sub Lt Rob Garner, LET(ME) David Fenton and Surg Lt Sudipta Roy
024-025_NN_Nov08.indd 2 20/10/08 12:34:06
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com