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NAVY NEWS, J U N E 1992
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Norfolk first for Cromer THE strong bond between Norfolk, the county of Lord Nelson's birth, and the Royal Navy were further strengthened last month with the commissioning, at Great Yarmouth, of the third Sandown class single role minehunters, HMS Cromer — the first time, it is believed, that an RN ship has been commissioned in the county. Accepted by the Navy last November the ship was launched back in October 1990 by Lady Brown, wife of Admiral Sir Brian Brown, and she returned to Great Yarmouth to perform the commissioning ceremony. HMS Cromer, commanded by Lieut.-Cdr. Gordon Stamp, already has strong affiliations with the county of Norfolk, forging links with the town of Cromer, the local RNA branch, Cromer Children's Charity and 1st Cromer Sea Cadets. She is also affiliated to E Flight 22 Sqn. at RAF Coltishall where the ship's commissioning cake was made — Warrant Officer Robert Rose, who supervised the baking, denied rumours that silver coins bearing the inscription "Join the RAF" had been added to the ingredients! During her seven day visit to Great Yarmouth the ship's company enjoyed a busy round of sporting and social engagements playing host to visitors from local schools, Cromer RNA and the World Ship Society.
• Above: HMS Cromer berths at South Quay, Great Yarmouth, for her commissioning. • Left: Lady Brown, wife of Admiral Sir Brian Brown, receives a bouquet from sevenyear-old Rebecca Openshaw, daughter of LS(D) Mick Openshaw. • Right: AB(D) Mick Brady swops hats with a local Police Sgt. during a visit to HMS Cromer.
Ethnic equality drive
THE Service careers of per-
sonnel from ethnic minorities are to be monitored by the Armed Forces. Answering a Commons question, Armed Forces Minister Mr. Archie Hamilton said the Services had undertaken a range of measures to increase recruitment from ethnic minority communities. "To underline our commitment to equal opportunities for all ethnic groups, we have now decided to extend to service personnel our present practice of monitoring the ethnic origins of applications to join the Armed Forces. "The information gathered will be used solely for monitoring our e q u a l o p p o r t u n i t y policy and individuals' ethnic records will be guaranteed confidentiality."
Answering a question about proposals to restructure Fleet support, the minister said the headquarters establishment of the new Naval Support Command would be about 3,300. The command would bring together staff at presently currently located in or near Bath, London, Portsmouth, Weymouth and Stockton-on-Tees.
Smifer's ford of the fsfes MIDSHIPMEN from Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities RN Unit put their navigational and pilotage skills to the test during a two-week deployment to the Western Isles. Two separate groups of 12 midshipmen, embarked in the coastal training ship HMS Smiter, navigated their way to some of the more remote areas of the Isles, including Loch Hourn and Loch Etive, both inaccessible to larger vessels.
Staffa One of the highlights of the deployment was a day spent climbing on and sailing around the island of Staffa. On a perfect day HMS Smiter was piloted close to Fingal's Cave, the inner recesses of which were also explored by the ship's Gemini. Picture: Lieut.-Cdr. Paul Engeham.
i HMS Smiter transits the Crinan Canal during her spring deployment