Ark Royal passes into history

WE WILL wake up tomorrow for the first time in more than 30 years without the name Ark Royal in the Royal Navy’s inventory.

The one time flagship of the Fleet – and highest-profile victim of cuts under last year’s defence review – was formally decommissioned yesterday in Portsmouth Naval Base.

Upwards of 900 guests from dignitaries, affiliates, former captains and senior officers to relatives of the 150 or so remaining ship’s company attended the hour-long ceremony on the carrier’s flight deck.

The carrier has already said her goodbyes to the people of Portsmouth and Leeds, her affiliated city, by marching through both metropolises.

Until the formal act of a decommissioning ceremony and the lowering of the White Ensign, however, the Mighty Ark was still Her Majesty’s Ship.

The carrier hasn’t moved since her final entry into Portsmouth in December – the odometer remains fixed at 621,551 miles sailed.

Since then the dwindling ship’s company has been involved with ‘de-storing ship’ – removing equipment which might be useful elsewhere in the Fleet (including the carrier’s engines); despite current talk of reactivating the ship in the light of recent global events, it would take upwards of six months to resurrect her.

Many of the ship’s company have already scattered throughout the RN, including Ark’s final CO Capt Jerry Kyd.

“Ark Royal is part of the fabric of the Royal Navy – she’s probably the most iconic and famous name in the Royal Navy,” said Capt Kyd.

“I am only too aware that this famous ship and her name mean a great deal to many people, but although Ark Royal will be decommissioned, the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers are vastly more capable and will provide the Royal Navy with an exciting future.”

He returned to the 20,000-ton carrier to witness the last act in her life.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope was the guest of honour, inspecting a 30-strong guard before Ark Royal’s chaplain, the Rev Martin Evans, led the service of decommissioning, with music provided by the Band of HM Royal Marines Portsmouth.

With proceedings over, the White Ensign was lowered for the last time in more than 25 years.

Ark’s fate remains undetermined, with various plans mooted from the slightly bizarre (floating hotel/conference centre off Mablethorpe) to the more plausible (a floating helipad on the Thames to meet the growing needs of the capital for a dedicated airport for helicopters).

HMS Bulwark rejoins Royal Navy operational fleet

The Royal Navy amphibious landing ship HMS Bulwark has returned to the Royal Navy's operational fleet and is ready for any tasking worldwide. 

The ship has emerged on time and budget from an 11-month upgrade and maintenance period by Babcock in its base port of HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth.

The project team successfully met significant challenges, including severe adverse weather conditions, to keep the programme on schedule. This was the ship's first docking period since being formally commissioned into the Royal Navy in April 2005.

Having successfully completed three weeks of sea trials the ship has passed the formal fleet date inspection by the team judging her readiness and effectiveness to join the operational fleet.

The Commanding Officer of HMS Bulwark, Captain Alex Burton, said: "Through an open, engaging and strong partnership with Babcock Marine, HMS Bulwark has successfully met her fleet date. The docking period presented a challenging mix of complexity, time management and detailed and intricate planning.

"This has been underpinned by an overarching desire to succeed from both Babcock Marine and the ship's company of HMS Bulwark.

"Acceptance back into the fleet marks an important date for HMS Bulwark on her path towards regeneration and her future role as the fleet flagship in October this year."

The £30m refit, under an alliance between the MOD, Babcock and BAE Systems, has benefited from the application of Babcock's knowledge and experience gained on sister vessel HMS Albion, resulting in initiatives and improvements being introduced.

Closer working methods have enabled efficiency and cost-effectiveness to be maximised throughout the docking period, to deliver optimum value for money.

The 450,000-man-hour refit involved the overhaul of 1,625 items of equipment, the manufacture of 1,557 items, and the shipping of 398 tonnes of equipment on and off the ship.

215 hull valves have been removed and replaced, 93 tanks opened, cleaned and surveyed, 21 miles (34km) of electrical cable installed, and 8,000 litres of paint applied to the ship's outer hull.

HMS Bulwark now has improved aviation facilities (the flight deck has the capacity to operate two heavy-lift Chinook helicopters simultaneously) and upgrades to the floodable dock to float landing craft in and out, including full tactical night-vision capability for her landing craft and aircraft.

Extensive improvements have been made to the living quarters for the ship's 380 sailors and marines, including bunk spaces, toilets, bathrooms, recreational areas, main galley (kitchen), laundry area and dining area.

The communications equipment has been enhanced, high pressure salt water, drainage and sewage systems improved and the main propulsion system upgraded.

There were improvements to machinery and magazine spaces and IT network capability, as well as defensive weapons upgrades. The ship's outer hull was also treated with anti-fouling paint which will improve fuel efficiency and speed through the water.

The Babcock project manager, Mike Weeks, said: "A number of challenges have been addressed during the refit, including the addition of 16 alterations and additions during the project, and completion of the refit within the same time frame as Albion, despite an additional 70,000 man-hours involved.

"Successes included achievement of all key milestones, an excellent safety culture, the adoption of a single integrated plan, and efficiency improvements such as the dockside services contract arrangements, as well as an excellent partnering relationship."

HMS Bulwark is one of the Royal Navy's two assault command and control ships. It has a ship's company of 380, a quarter of whom are made up from 4 Assault Squadron Royal Marines.

Up to 200 marines can be carried in dedicated accommodation for long periods and another 500 in austere conditions for short periods. Her flight deck can accommodate two Chinook or two Merlin helicopters. A large floodable dock holds four large landing craft - with another four carried on davits on the ship's sides. 

Source

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

Bye, George as support ship sails out of Plymouth

WITH the waves crashing against Plymouth’s outer breakwater, RFA Fort George leaves the Royal Navy’s West Country home for the final time.

The one-stop support ship is one of the ‘forgotten victims’ of the Strategic Defence and Security Review; while all the media attention (and we too fell into this trap admittedly) focused on the demise of HMS Ark Royal, the Harrier jump jets and all four Type 22 frigates, three auxiliaries were also axed – a smaller surface fleet requires a smaller support fleet.

So the plug was pulled on veteran tanker RFA Bayleaf, nearly-new amphibious ship RFA Largs Bay and Fort George, 17 years old and – with her still-in-service sister Fort Victoria – the largest ship in the Fleet.

While Fort George’s demise may be untimely, she goes out on a high. She ended 2010 as the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s ‘Ship of the Year’, a title she earned after winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Surface Ship Effectiveness trophy for her work supporting a sizeable RN task force (two carriers, one assault ship and a couple of escorts) on the Auriga deployment to the USA.

In her 17-year career, the ship earned the Sword of Peace for her work helping flood victims in Mozambique in 2000, quickly followed by the peace mission to stablise Sierra Leone in the wake of civil war.

She was in the Hong Kong for the former colony’s return to Chinese rule, supported initial operations in Afghanistan over the winter of 2001-02 and was the host ship for the Royal Naval Reserve during the Trafalgar 200 Spithead review.

As for Fort George’s wind-down, aside from de-storing there’s been a farewell dinner for the ship’s sponsor Lady Slater and her husband Admiral Sir Jock Slater.

The ship is bound for Liverpool where she awaits disposal.

Royal Navy’s ‘HMS Queen Elizabeth’ under construction

Pictured here is construction of the first of the two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, HMS Queen Elizabeth, as workers at BAE Systems’ Govan yard moved two giant sections of the hull together for the first time.

The structure is so big that it fills an entire hall at Govan and now extends beyond the doors onto the yard.

It took a team of 20 employees and remote controlled transporters just one hour to move 1,221 tonnes of steel over 100 metres across the shipyard. The hull section was then manoeuvred carefully into position to line up with the rest of the block.

The two sections brought together today form the mid section of the hull up to the hangar deck and is referred to as Lower Block 03. Workers will continue to outfit the block, which on completion will weigh over 9,300 tonnes and stand over 23 metres tall, 63 metres long and 40 metres wide. She is set to embark to Rosyth in the latter part of this year, where HMS Queen Elizabeth will be assembled in the dry dock.

HMS Queen Elizabeth Steps Out Into the Lime Light

Construction of the first of the two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, HMS Queen Elizabeth, took a huge step forward today as workers at BAE System' Govan yard moved two giant sections of the hull together for the first time.

The structure is so big that it fills an entire hall at Govan and now extends beyond the doors onto the yard, providing a spectacular view from across the River Clyde.

Highlighting the skill and technology involved in British shipbuilding today, it took a team of 20 employees and remote controlled transporters just one hour to move 1,221 tonnes of steel over 100 metres across the shipyard. The hull section was then manoeuvred carefully into position to line up with the rest of the block.

Steven Carroll, Queen Elizabeth Class Project Director at BAE Systems’ Surface Ships division, said: “Seeing the mid section of the carrier come together brings into sharp focus the sheer scale and complexity of this engineering feat.

“With construction underway at six shipyards across the country, it is one of the biggest engineering projects in the UK today – second only to the London 2012 Olympics – and we’re all very proud to be a part of it.”

The two sections brought together today form the mid section of the hull up to the hangar deck and is referred to as Lower Block 03. Workers will now continue to outfit the block, which on completion will weigh over 9,300 tonnes and stand over 23 metres tall, 63 metres long and 40 metres wide. She is set to embark on the next stage of her journey to Rosyth in the latter part of this year, where HMS Queen Elizabeth will be assembled in the dry dock.

As a member of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, BAE Systems is working in partnership with Babcock, Thales and the Ministry of Defence to deliver the nation’s flagships. This huge massive engineering project is rapidly gaining momentum and employs over 8,000 people across shipyards in Glasgow, Portsmouth, Appledore, Rosyth, Merseyside and Newcastle, with thousands more across the supply chain.

Detail and Specification:http://www.defencetalk.com/hms-queen-elizabeth-steps-out-into-the-lime-light-32021/#ixzz1E1IykSGL

Royal Navy Merlins Fly to the Anti-submarine Exercise

A Royal Navy helicopter squadron is taking part in NATO's largest Mediterranean anti-submarine exercise, Proud Manta, for the first time.

Merlin Mk1 maritime patrol helicopters from 814 Naval Air Squadron (also known as 'The Flying Tigers') have flown 1,400 miles (2,250km) across Europe from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Helston, Cornwall, to Sicily in order to take part in the exercise and practise hunting submarines.

Run by NATO, Exercise Proud Manta (formally Noble Manta) sees ships, aircraftand submarines from the USA, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Greece and Turkey, plus hosts Italy, converging on the central Mediterranean for a week.

The exercise provides a realistic, challenging training environment for all participants in order to improve the readiness, proficiency and tactical skills of all the units taking part. It gives the Merlin crews anexcellent opportunity to practise their primary role of anti-submarine warfare as they operate against a wide variety of exercise 'adversaries' not normally encountered in British waters.

814 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) personnel, including aircrew and engineers, will be hosted by the US Navy at Naval Air Station Sigonella in eastern Sicily for the duration of the exercise.

The Commanding Officer of 814 NAS, Commander Darran Goldsmith, said:

"Proud Manta will provide the opportunity for 814 to hone its anti-submarine warfare skills whilst working closely with other NATO maritime air, surface and sub-surface forces.

"Additionally, for the aircrew new to the front line, the transit to and from Sicily will offer excellent navigation training and experience. Interaction with our Italian Merlin counterparts in terms of engineering practices and flying procedures is a most welcome bonus in an exercise which promises much in a concentrated period of focused tactical activity."

Navy behind on fitness goal

Nearly one in five naval personnel have not passed their annual Royal Naval Fitness Test, it has been revealed.

A report in The Portsmouth News showed that 83 per cent of personnel had passed the test, against a Royal Navy target of 90 per cent.

Ten per cent of personnel did not book a test in the last year, four per cent failed the test and the remaining three per cent were exempt due to "medical or logistical" reasons, the report said.

It is up to individuals to ensure their tests are up to date in the Royal Navy, with those with out of date tests not eligible for promotion.

The navy's head of physical development policy, Commander Gareth Hughes, told the newspaper that personnel were achieving everything that was asked of them and that fitness was "not an issue".

He called for 95 per cent of sailors to be up to date with their testing, and said that the fitness test should be updated more regularly.

"What is needed is a cultural change," he said. "The fitness test should not be like an MoT, it should be something you keep up all the time."

800 Naval Air Squadron pass into history

ANOTHER day, another great name in the Royal Navy passes into history with the demise of the Fleet Air Arm's only fast jet squadron.

800 Naval Air Squadron formally decommissioned - alongside the rest of Joint Force Harrier - in front of 600 friends, family and veterans, plus the ranking officers of the Senior and Junior Services.

On a bitterly cold January day at RAF Wittering, near Peterborough, the Ensign of 800 NAS and the standards of their RAF sister formations 1(F) and IV Squadrons were paraded for the final time in their present incarnations as Harrier units.

The Harriers the men and women have flown and maintained made their final flight shortly before Christmas.

Proceedings at Wittering, the home of Harrier training until the shock decision to axe the jump jet in last autumn's defence review, were focused on the decommissioning (or disbanding in RAF terminology) of the three squadrons.

The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope both thanked the squadrons for their commitment, dedication and, in times of war, blood shed for their nation.

It was, said Air Chief Marshal Dalton, "only adieu, not farewell" as the squadrons would one day re-form with new aircraft.

"The record of your squadrons is testimony to your courage," Admiral Stanhope told the airmen and ground crew. The decision to pay off the Harrier force "was one not taken lightly or easily. It has been a painful one for a close-knit community which has given outstanding service over very many years.

"We need to move on. The implications reach far beyond the Harrier community. The challenge we now face is to recreate carrier strike capability which for so long has been - and will again be - at the heart of the future forces which will safeguard our country.

"That is not only your future, but also your legacy."

As the squadrons marched out of the hangar holding the ceremony - to the strains of Auld Lang Syne from the RAF Band - guests spontaneously rose from their seats and applauded the parading sailors and airmen.

It was a moment which 800 NAS' final CO, Cdr David Lindsay, said "left a lump in my throat - it shows what a significant day this is.

He added: "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the commanding officer of the last Harrier squadron in the Fleet Air Arm.

"It is the end of an era of hard sacrifice, some of it in blood. We have to take that legacy and move on into the future. I am a born optimist. Hopefully we will recommission as the first squadron flying the Joint Strike Fighter."

Royal Navy Moves Iraqi Navy Step Forward

British-trained members of the Iraqi Navy have conducted their first patrol of Iraqi territorial waters surrounding the Al Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT) in their new Swift patrol boat.

The Royal Navy has been training the Iraqi Navy in Umm Qasr as part of a coalition training team since 2004. Most recently they have been supporting the Iraqi Navy by delivering Swift patrol boat training and mentoring the future Iraqi Navy training staff.

In advance of the first operational patrol the crew had to complete a final sea assessment conducted by a joint Iraqi and coalition team. They passed with flying colours and proceeded on patrol immediately.

The importance of the patrol to the Iraqi Navy was emphasised by it occurring on Iraqi National Army Day - 7 January 2011.

Lieutenant Abdul, the captain of patrol boat 301, said: "It was a significant day, especially since the patrol was part of the Iraqi National Army Day."

Captain Gary Sutton, Commanding Officer Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission - Navy [ITAM-N] (Umm Qasr), said: "Today the Iraqi Navy has made a huge step forward with the first Swiftships patrol of ABOT. I am proud of their accomplishment, but I would also like to acknowledge the achievements of the highly professional training and advisory coalition team in ITAM-N whose training of the Iraqi Navy made this possible."

This new class of modern patrol boat marks a significant step forward in the operational capability of the Iraqi Navy.

Built by Swiftships in the USA, these high-speed, 35-metre vessels are armed with the 30mm British MSI gun and are ideal for their role of defending the vitally important Iraqi offshore oil infrastructure.

The Iraqi Navy of 2,500 personnel, 11 patrol boats and 35 fast attack craft will be joined over the next 12 months by a further 14 Swift patrol boats.

Navy Days spectacle attracts 25,000 visitors

WITH everything from pirates to skydiving soldiers and a teddy bear driving a jeep, the Navy’s flagship public event of the year attracted more than 25,000 visitors.

Navy Days – this year spread over three days in Portsmouth Naval Base – saw people traveling from the West Midlands, Surrey and Bedfordshire to see the Royal Navy and Royal Marines of the past, present and future.

The £1bn warships HMS Dauntless and Daring proved the biggest draws, but despite the substantial size of Britain’s two newest destroyers, they were dwarfed by aviation training and casualty treatment ship RFA Argus.

The latter, fresh from refit, opened up her hospital to give the public a rare glimpse of the military’s state-of-the-art floating medical facilities.
Also on show were frigates Westminster, Cumberland, and Richmond, fishery protection ship HMS Tyne. minehunter HMS Cattistock and landing craft Aachen.

The Royal Marines’ Fleet Protection Group demonstrated how they could take down pirates by rapid roping from a Lynx, a vintage Hawker Sea Hawk jet demonstrated its graceful lines over Portsmouth Harbour, the Black Cats Lynx display demonstrated they could pirouette and dance through the sky, and the Royal Artillery Black Knights parachute display team demonstrated that they could leap into the water… but not walk on it.

The whole event was brought to a close on Sunday evening by the Band of HM Royal MarinesBeating the Retreat through the dockyard to Victory Gate.

“We were lucky with the weather but we were also pleased that the scale and variety of the whole event proved so popular,” said Robert Bruce, managing director of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard which jointly staged the event with the Naval Base.

“We have had many more visitors than is normal, even on a busy summer’s weekend and we are delighted with the result.”

Naval Base Commander Cdre Rob Thompson added: “Navy Days was a huge success. The mainly dry and warm weather played a part but a big draw was seeing the Royal Navy’s ships and personnel at close hand.

“The event proved an exciting opportunity to show the general public the wide role of the Royal Navy and what its men and women are up to across the globe – from taking to the fight to the Taleban in Afghanistan to countering pirates in the Gulf of Aden.”