NAVYJiEW_SJLILY 1973
Wine man and his wear
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Colourful characters abound in many of the countries visited by Royal Navy ships - like
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this resplendent wine seller pictured during the visit to North Africa in June by the Second
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Frigate Squadron.
With him in Casablanca's Old Medina market area is CPO Frank Moore, of H.M.S. Exmouth. Phdo:
LA Peter HmsIon
Second 'invasion' of North Africa
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Breaking away from their stamping ground at Portland and the daily round of training, the Second Frigate &juadron - like the birds - headed south. Destination: North Africa. The squadron, commanded by Capt. Grenville was that from which Sir Alec R. M. Burgoyne in H.M.S. Torquay, Guinness used to sail when acting as the combined business with pleasure dur- two-wife captain of the straits ferry' in the comedy film "Captain's Paradise. It was ing their fortnight away. also where some of Nelson's victorious fleet w On the there they, carried out exerbefore the Battle of Trafalgar. cises, with officer of the watch manoeuvres, replenished Social events included a cocktail party jackstays. RASing, night stationkeeping, given by H. M. Consul-General to celebrate gunnery shoots and the like. Coming home, the Queen's Birthday. there were deep water anti-submarine exerShortly after arriving at Tangier both ekes in company with H.M.S. Tiger and ships arranged to send working parties to other Fleet units, local Cheshire Home for disabled chilBecause of the varied nature of their the dren and the men carried out a variety of duties, ships of the squadron seldom get useful work. The children were later entertogether and so the ocean passage exerclstamed at a party on board the Grenville. ing in company was of particular value Sightseeing and bartering for goods were Between the business came the pleasur: and there was great hospitality. enjoyed H.M. ships Torqua Exmouth. Dundas, from the cornespecially, and Russell visited csabkrnca. while H.1. munltv who love toEnglish-speaking have the chance of ships Grenville and Penelope went to Tan- checking that the British Navy, is still the gcI. Five days in port meant sightseeing trips to Marrakech and Rahat. camel rides, football, swimming, cocktail parties, and chilRoyal visitor dren's parties. The squadron football team did well, in particular beating a representain Stockholm tive Moroccan Navy team 4-2. Only casualties were caused by the African sun. The guided missile destroyer Which burned the necks of every quarterH.M.S. Fife and frigate H.M.S. master on watch. Arethusa were visited in StockBand boost holm on June 15 by the Crown A boost to squadron activities was $iven Prince of Sweden. by the Band of the Parachute Regiment He was the guest of Admiral Sir embarked in the Torquay and which played Edward Ashmore, Commanderat several functions, including the Queen's In-Chief Fleet, who was flying his flag in the Fife. An honour guard Birthday Party at the British Embassy in Rahat. was provided for the Prince, and For their visit to Tangier the prestige the R. M. Band of the Flag Officer Naval Air Command supplied position occupied by the Penelope and the music.
'CAT AND MOUSE' - WITH TASTY SUPPERS
" Frying tonite might be regarded as something of a wry, joke for men of the Royal Navy involved in the cod war dispute with Iceland, but the fish on the menu for H.M.S. Lincoln was rather special. The trawler support vessel Othello presented the frigate with a 200th. halibut, a giant specimen which looked like a world r, to the recipients. Three cooks from the Lincoln cut the halibut into steaks for the ship's company supper. To H.M.S. Plymouth, naval intervention came as a mild shock to the system. Just having completed her time as stand-by frigate
Cod war perks
for Iceland, the ship's company, were settling in for a period of inter-refit training at Portland. Then they, found themselves dashing northwards at 26 knots for the task ahead. On arrival off southern Iceland, the Plymouth joined H.M.S. Cleopatra and took over as OTC. They were later joined by H.M.S. Jupiter, relieving H.M.S. LincoIn.
In the close-quarters battle of wills with the gunboats, the ops room have to be on their toes to sort out the gunboats from the jumble of some 30 trawlers and escorts. The radar screen often appears to have measles, and the Wasp helicopters are of great value in searching the area and identifying the various contacts. So the job continues silence, searching, a sudden flurry of activity, then hack again to cat-and-mouse. Danger is never far away, and it is indeed remarkable, having regard to the
tactics involved, that nobody, gets hurt.
In company were the frigates H.M.S Gurkha and Plymouth
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BRUSH WITH GUNBOAT H.M.S. Scylla did suffer superficial damage in a brush with an Icelandic gunboat, and the incident aroused a great deal of political activity, but generally the situation has greatly improved from the trawlers' point of view. H.M.S. .Scylla and H.M.S. Jaguar have now left the area, and Icelandic duties have been taken over by H.M. ships Charybdis. 1-almouth, and Leopard.
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Cutting their sive 200ib. halibut into steaks for the ship's company sup. nerre three cooks -: From coIn - PO Cooks Law and Shorthouse and LCk. O'Toole.
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with real meaning in the cod war as the Royal Navy goes about its business of otectiflgOurtraw:
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merit. On the left, the Icelandic gun-. boat Aegir steams away from a British trawler and H.M.S. " Cleopatra.
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