Dauntless trio windsurf in the Arctic for injured marines

NOW the amazing thing about this story is that Royal Marines weren’t doing it…

An hour’s windsurfing. 350 miles inside the Arctic Circle. In winter. In temperatures of at best -15°C. In a raging snowstorm.

Three officers from HMS Dauntless – led by the destroyer’s CO Capt Richard Powell – vowed to take to their boards on board the Type 45 when she headed to Norway for cold weather trials and windsurf as far north as possible to help commandos injured in the line of duty.

And when the ship reached a deep water anchorage some 70 miles north of Tromsø, Norway’s most northerly city, that was about as far north as Dauntless would be going (1,350 miles from the North Pole), so time to suit up.

Before departing Portsmouth the windsurfers had discussed the kit they would need with the Royal Marines, Britain’s experts in cold climate warfare; the green berets suggested dry suits, hats and goggles inter alia.

With two safety boats in the water and the ship’s company on the upper deck to offer encouragement, carving messages of support in the snow settling on the ship’s side – ‘Rather you than me’ – the trio (Capt Powell, weapon engineering officer Lt Cdr Matt Stratton and Mid Tom Forster) took to their boards.

After about 15 minutes the windsurfers decided they wanted to swap their kit around…which involved getting wet.

“None of them was quite prepared for just how cold the water was, and after they had climbed back on to their respective boards and tried hauling up the sails, it became fairly evident that the cold was starting to take its effect,” said Dauntless’ marine engineer officer Lt Cdr Peter Lee.

But in true RN spirit, the three remained out on their boards for another 45 minutes before deciding to call it a day and return to Dauntless for warm showers and hot food.

Back aboard the destroyer the windsurfers vowed never to attempt anything quite so daft again.

That said, they are hoping to raise more than £5,000 when all the IOUs come good. The money will go to the C Group, a charity set up in 2008 to help wounded and injured Royal Marines with their recovery and rehabilitation.

Type 45 goes -25˚

ALTHOUGH it's a balmy 5°C today for HMS Dauntless.

The second ship in Britain's £6bn Type 45 programme is in Norwegian waters, first Bergen, then Tromsø (200 miles inside the Arctic Circle) to conduct cold weather trials (the lucky so-and-sos in HMS Daring got the plum job of warm weather trials...).

So far, however, it's been unseasonably mild – a good few degrees above zero – and quite drizzly, but when the Arctic cold kicks in with a vengeance (which it will – temperatures below -20°C are more common), it will test Dauntless' ability to cope with the cold

According to the Type 45’s specs the air conditioning should sustain temperatures inside the hull at a very pleasant 25°C.

The exercises around Norway should also serve as a warm up (sorry) for Operational Sea Training which should be kicking in off Plymouth in a couple of weeks.

Lessons learned during Daring’s OST experience last spring have been passed on both to D33 and the FOSTies putting Dauntless through her paces.

Once through OST the destroyer’s thrown straight into a Joint Warrior exercise (the twice-yearly international war games run from Faslane) – the first 45 to take part.

Thereafter there’s a visit to Newcastle, Dauntless’ affiliated city and, post Easter leave, the ship will work up with a US carrier battlegroup (like Daring before her) for what the RN calls ‘Tier 2’ training – basically ‘super OST’, testing a ship’s ability to fight as part of a task group.

The ship’s lined up to visit the DSEi defence exhibition in London’s Docklands in September, a spot more training and a bit of maintenance, then a first deployment in early 2012.