Navy's Libyan rescue mission "undoubtedly" saved lives

THE men and women of HMS York “undoubtedly” saved lives when they rescued civilians stranded in Libya as fighting engulfed the country.

The destroyer picked up 43 civilians – 11 Britons and 32 other nationalities from a dozen countries – from the eastern port of Benghazi during a fleeting visit to the city on Thursday and safely transported them to Malta.

Among them was oil engineer Steve Tindal from Swansea, part of a group of three oil workers escorted to the port by the self-styled Jalu People’s Army as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office urged all Britons still in Libya to make for Benghazi.

After a hair-raising journey to the port – the desert oil field where the engineers had been working was “subsequently overrun with heavy casualties” – the sight of HMS York and her sailors and Royal Marines was “a massive relief,” said Mr Tindal.

He added: “The immediate feeling of security they provided for us was utterly mind-blowing and made me proud to be British.”

Benghazi has been in the hands of anti-Colonel Gaddafi rebels for a couple of weeks, but the situation in the city remained tense when York arrived – the sound of gunfire crackling across the city was audible during the destroyer’s short time alongside.

The Type 42 was diverted from her original destination of the Falklands to deliver medical supplies Benghazi’s hospital and rescue civilians eager to escape the growing crisis in the troubled North African state.

“We were in a fraught state and the care given was very grateful,” said Mr Tindal. “York put us in a comfort zone we hadn't experienced throughout our ordeal which had its fair share of incidents.”

From the moment the evacuees arrived at the jetty, the ship’s company showed them “care and compassion”.

Mr Tindal continued: “The commander’s first, second and third priority was for our safety and well-being. I am honest enough to say that I had tears in my eyes when I saw first hand what these guys and girls were doing for us. These guys and girls undoubtedly saved my life.

“The conditions on board were cramped but it didn't faze any of the crew in the least. They gave up their bunks for us to get some rest while they were on full war-footing – six hours on and six hours off.

“They were all exhausted but it didn't show one little bit – amazing endurance. A tribute again to the commander and his crew.”

York’s place in Operation Deference – the Royal Navy codename for the Libyan mission – has been taken by HMS Westminster which broke off duties in home waters to head for the Med in company with medical/aviation support ship RFA Argus.

HMS Cumberland paid her third visit to Benghazi over the weekend to extract more civilians and remains on station in the Mediterranean.

As part of the combined RN-RAF-Army rescue mission, more than 500 British citizens have been evacuated, plus over 850 civilians of other nationalities.

Sailors help major evacuation effort

BUT if you’re thinking ‘HMS Cumberland’ or 'HMS York' and ‘Libya’ you’d be wrong.

No, these are Britons caught up in the latest unrest between Ginger and Brownia. Saving their bacon is the good ship Albion, which has dispatched her landing craft to ‘Freeport’ to evacuate them.

The Brownian enclave of Freeport is actually Wilsons Beach, just around the corner from Weston Mill Lake Jetty (hence the unmistakable outline of HMS Ocean in the background).

It was just one of four points around the Plymouth area selected for the mock evacuation as HMS Albion’s pre-deployment training reached its climax.

The nation’s flagship has spent the opening weeks of 2011 enjoying ‘top-up training’ courtesy of the Flag Officer Sea Training before she leads the RN’s task force deployment of the year to the Med and beyond, Exercise Cougar.

The climax of that training was a simulated NEO – non-combatant evacuation operation – from a conflict-ravaged foreign state… something long practised by ships passing through FOST, but given additional relevance in the light of current events in North Africa.

In the latest dry run, helicopters and landing craft were despatched to Jupiter Point, Turnchapel, Wacker Quay (near Antony) and Treluggan boatyard (in Saltash) to round up the scattered civilians – somewhat to the bemusement of locals who woke to a lot of military activity on an otherwise ordinary March morning.

Once collected, the evacuees were taken to a central evacuation point on Wilsons Beach at Bull Point, where green berets from Alpha Company 40 Cdo had been landed to provide security for landing craft to ferry the civvies to Albion.

Aboard the assault ship the evacuees received food, accommodation and medical attention before onward passage once more, this time to RFA Mounts Bay so Albion could resume more warlike operations.

“Albion’s unique capabilities – as a floating headquarters that can also land a military force at a time and place of our choosing – mean we are the perfect platform for a wide range of military or humanitarian operations,” said her CO Capt James Morley.

With the FOSTies happy with Albion’s performance, they declared the assault ship ready for operations of any sort, at any time, anywhere around the world.

After a brief spot of maintenance in her home port of Devonport, she’s due to leave the UK next month in company with HMS Sutherland inter alia as Cougar kicks off.

York delivers aid to Benghazi and prepares to evacuate last Britons

TONS of medical aid has arrived in war-torn Benghazi aboard HMS York as the destroyer arrived for the latest stage of the civilian evacuation.

York sailed into the eastern Libyan port late this morning in the third rescue sortie carried out by the Royal Navy since the unrest in the North African nation became critical.

HMS Cumberland has already ferried more than 400 civilians – including in excess of 100 Brits – safely from rebel-held Benghazi to Grand Harbour.

Estimates suggest there are still 150 UK citizens in the country and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s warden on the ground in Benghazi, Thomas Smith, has been trying to round them up so York can carry them to safety.

The destroyer also delivered aid to Benghazi, including donations from the Swedish Government, such as needles, syringes, surgical gloves and bandages for the city’s medical centre.

The aid was due to be supplied by air, but the city’s airport is out of action following last month’s fighting; the destroyer offered to carry the cargo instead.

York – diverted into the Med on her way to the South Atlantic to begin a Falklands patrol – was ordered to Malta at the weekend to support the RAF-RN-Foreign Office relief mission to evacuate Britons stuck in crisis-torn Libya.

After refuelling in Grand Harbour, which has become the hub of the maritime rescue mission, she was sent to North Africa to collect “any remaning British nations who wish to leave”.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is asking anyone who is able safely to get to Benghazi to do so now,” urged a spokesman

Cumberland goes 'beyond the call of duty' to rescue civilians in Libya

HMS Cumberland is due back in Malta today after her second rescue mission to save foreigners caught up in Libya’s spiralling civil war.

Some 200 civilians – many of them oil workers from refineries in eastern Libya – boarded the frigate in driving rain in rebel-held Benghazi yesterday.

The port is the focal point of the international evacuation effort and several hundred Britons are still thought to be spread across the country.

Most have been brought home by a combined Foreign Office-military rescue mission, Operation Deference, with charter planes bringing home Brits from Tripoli and RAF Hercules swooping into the desert to collect oil workers.

In the Royal Navy’s case, HMS York has been diverted from her voyage to the Falklands and is in Grand Harbour awaiting instructions.

As for Cumberland, she picked up 69 Britons and 138 civilians of other nationalities on her first trip to Benghazi on Thursday.

It was the small hours of Saturday before the warship reached Malta after a very rough crossing of the Mediterranean.

“It was a very tiring journey,” said evacuee Phil Douglas from Craigo, near Montrose, “but under the circumstances it was fantastic.”

The oil worker was full of praise for his rescuers.

“Many people in the Royal Navy have gone beyond the call of duty to help civilians stranded far from the UK. I can’t fault their performance in any way,” he added.

“Everyone looked after us absolutely superbly, the food was very very good, better than we get in the desert, so we were very happy.”

Throughout the crossing, the Fighting Sausage’s sailors provided food, water and medical attention to the men, women and children rescued from Benghazi.

“I am very proud of the way the entire ship’s company reacted to this challenge,” Capt Steve Dainton, Cumberland’s Commanding Officer, told his men and women after the first run to Benghazi.

“It has been hard work, but thank you for your superb performance, well done.”

One of Cumberland's leading hands carries a girl evacuated from Benghazi ashore in Malta. Picture: Cpl Randall, RLC

York sails south to replace her sister

GLIDING past Round Tower, this is the sight of a stretched Type 42 destroyer, HMS York to be precise, sailing on deployment.

D98 (where life is great, according to the matelot's adage) is bound for the Falklands to relieve her sister.

Britain’s fastest destroyer (34kts) is due in the Falklands in the middle of next month, allowing her sister Gloucester to head home.

The Type 42 will spend a few months in and around the Falklands and South Georgia, returning to Portsmouth in July via the Caribbean and finally the USA.

To ready York for the deployment south again (her previous tour of duty over the Austral summer of 2009-10 was also to the Falklands), the ship has received  two new gas turbines and she has loosed no fewer than seven Sea Dart missiles on the ranges off the Outer Hebrides to prove her main weapon system was fully functioning.

“We’ve been preparing hard for this deployment and I’m delighted with my ship’s company’s response to the training,” said Commanding Officer Cdr Simon Staley.

“Our families deserve a very special mention – and thanks – too. They have been the very cornerstone of strength for us all throughout a hugely-demanding period of regeneration.

“By sheer distance from the UK – and in the face of a harsh South Atlantic winter – the deployment will present some real challenges for us all, but this will be balanced by the visits to some wonderfully diverse countries.”