GLOBAL REACH
17(R) TES
HMS Ambush RFA Fort Victoria
Gibraltar Squadron
HMS Enterprise HMS Mersey
Training or on patrol around the UK HMS Daring HMS Tyne HMS Diamond HMS Severn HMS Monmouth HMS Kent HMS Northumberland RFA Fort Rosalie HMS Portland HMS Iron Duke HMS Somerset HMS Sutherland FASLANE HMS Gannet
RFA Gold Rover
ROSYTH
COMUKMCMFOR MASF RFA Cardigan Bay Naval Party 1023 820 NAS 849 NAS
Naval Party 1022
Transglobe yachts
HMS Clyde NEFI YEOVILTON DEVONPORT PORTSMOUTH CULDROSE
UKMCC HMS Defender HMS St Albans HMS Chiddingfold HMS Middleton HMS Bangor HMS Penzance
HMS Protector
Plus one strategic missile and undisclosed Fleet submarines on patrol somewhere beneath the Seven Seas
This map is a depiction of many, though not all, of the Royal Navy’s commitments over the past month
FLEET FOCUS Protecting our nation’s interests
ONE hundred years ago the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet took part in the greatest Naval conflict ever fought in European waters – the Battle of Jutland. The battle saw 250 ships from the British and German Navies fight to control the North Sea – the sole time the two Navies met during the Great War. Navy News commemorates the WW1 battle with a 12-page supplement – including a four-page poster of the two fleets specially created by our graphic artist Andy Brady (see pages 23-34). Fast-forward to the present day and the focus falls on HMS Mersey and her Caribbean deployment (see pages 22 and 35). The patrol ship has been flying the flag for the UK as well as helping the Canadians and US Coast Guard halt drug runners (see right). Further south, to the Antarctic in fact, and HMS Protector marked the end of her historic deployment with a visit to Rothera Research Station, which lies 800 miles south of Cape Horn (see pages 20-21). The ice patrol ship also tested a quadcopter and a 3D-printed aircraft (see page 21) to scout the way for the ship so she can find her way through the thick ice of frozen seas. Enjoying much warmer conditions are the crew of HMS Penzance in the Gulf (see page 5) as 1st MCM Squadron’s Crew 4 were awarded a Fleet Efficiency Trophy. Back in the UK and a visit to RAF Valley, not for the fast jets but for the helicopter pilots, observers and aircrewmen who are all trained at 202(R) Sqn by search and rescue experts (see pages 14-15). Sticking with Wales and HMS Monmouth visited ... Monmouth (see page 10) to celebrate the freedom of the town for the first time in three years. Fleet flagship HMS Ocean led a contingent from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines for the Anglo-French Exercise Griffin Strike in Wales and the South West of England (see pages 2 and 3). Heading north to the Orkney Islands and Royal Navy bomb disposal experts detonated a WW2 torpedo – likely to have been one of those fired at HMS Royal Oak in 1939 – found during a routine seabed survey in Scapa Flow (see page 6). The stormy waters of Cape Horn tested Royal Navy sailors competing in Exercise Transglobe (see page 8). Two Naval Service chefs picked up medals at the American Armed Forces’ equivalent of Joint Caterer (see page 17). RFA Chef Marc Reed joined CPO Si Geldart for the week-long contest at Fort Lee in Virginia. Landing craft Foxtrot Eight, which helped Royal Marines liberate the Falklands nearly 35 years ago, is to enjoy a fresh lease of life – running tourists around Portsmouth Harbour (see page 10). We also record the passing of the Royal Navy Sea Kings as the Mk4s held a 475-mile, six-hour farewell tour (see pages 18-19). Heading into service will be the F-35B and new contracts have been announced (see page 5) to build new hangars at RAF Marham, from where the RN and RAF Lightning II squadrons will be based when not on duty in HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales. Preparing for HMS Queen Elizabeth’s arrival in Portsmouth next year is Chief Admiralty Pilot Tony Bannister (see page 7), who has been named as dedicated pilot for the new carriers. Finally, please take a couple of minutes to vote for your favourite photograph in the Navy News People’s Choice Award category of the prestigious Royal Navy Peregrine Trophy competition (see page 10).
New man takes Navy’s top job SURROUNDED by family and watched by the men in charge of our closest allies on the Seven Seas, Admiral Sir Philip Jones has taken over from Admiral Sir George Zambellas as Britain’s most senior sailor.
Aboard Nelson’s great flagship, the torch of Naval leadership changed hands as Admiral Zambellas stepped down after three years at the helm as First Sea Lord – and 35 years serving his nation. He formally handed over command of more than 30,000 men and women, nearly 90 warships, nuclear submarines and support vessels, the helicopters and jets of the Fleet Air Arm and the elite Naval infantry of the Royal Marines to the man who has overseen the day-to-day operations of the Royal Navy since 2013 as its Fleet Commander. During his three-year tenure, Admiral Jones will oversee the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth’s entry into service. Her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, will begin sea trials and the world’s most advanced fifth generation jet aircraft, the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, will operate from a Royal Navy ship for the first time. The historic setting of HMS Victory’s great cabin was the venue for the transfer of office, observed by the head of the US Navy, Admiral John Richardson, and US Coast Guard, Admiral Paul Zukunft, and France’s most senior sailor, Admiral Bernard Rogel. Proceedings then shifted to Victory’s quarterdeck and the last act of the ceremony, where
l Admiral Sir Philip Jones takes over as First Sea Lord from Admiral Sir George Zambellas aboard HMS Victory Picture: LA(Phot) Guy Pool
Admiral Zambellas’ standard was lowered and Admiral Jones’ flag raised in its place. “We owe Sir George a huge debt of gratitude; through this vision and leadership, the Royal Navy’s credibility has been strengthened immeasurably, and with it our self-belief; it is a legacy that will stand the test of time,” the incoming First Sea Lord said. “In the years ahead, the introduction of the two new aircraft carriers – the largest warships in our history – will change entirely how the Royal Navy operates. “Our sailors and marines are the best in the world, and I intend to keep it that way.” Before arriving on Victory – which serves as the flagship for the First Sea Lord as it did for Nelson at Trafalgar – Admiral Zambellas embarked on a short sail-past around the harbour in patrol boat HMS Blazer; the
crew of HMS Dragon, whose Type 45 destroyer is freshly out of refit, were among those who saluted as Blazer passed. Admiral Zambellas joined the Royal Navy in September 1980 and served as a Sea King pilot before commanding three warships, including HMS Chatham, which saw action in Sierra Leone. As the nation’s ranking sailor, he has overseen the ongoing programme to deliver the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review – the first in decades to pledge a growth in the RN. “It has been an enormous honour to lead the Royal Navy,” said Admiral Zambellas. “The Navy is full of brilliant people – sailors, marines, civilians, and their supportive families. If I could, I’d join them all over again.”
Mersey aids drugs bust
ROYAL Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey has helped in the seizure of cocaine off the coast of Nicaragua. The River-class ship, currently on deployment in the Atlantic, was called in to help the Canadian Navy minehunter HMCS Summerside, which had stopped a vessel bound for Honduras. A team from the US Coast Guard boarded the vessel and found 304kg of drugs before requesting Mersey embark the drugs and the crew, as well as tow the vessel. Mersey deployed her Pacific 22 RHIB to collect the three suspects and 16 bales of cocaine, with a UK wholesale value of £12,000,000. With the vessel, pictured below, brought under tow, it struggled in mounting waves, breaking free of the tow line and quickly sinking. Mersey’s crew collected debris from the surface of the sea before continuing north to rendezvous with the US Coast Guard cutter Thetis. Despite rough seas, Mersey transferred the three suspects and the drugs to the cutter before continuing her patrol. n Mersey paradise, see pages 22 and 35
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: MAY 2016
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