Fresh from taking part in 200th birthday celebrations of the US National Anthem, HMS Argyll linked up with the US Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 12, headed by the super-carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
The Devonport-based frigate was put through her paces by an air defence exercise as well as a stint guarding the carrier and carrying out in-company manoeuvres.
Pictures: LA(Phot) Steve Johncock, HMS Argyll
HMS Argyll leads one of the most awesome sights on the Seven Seas: a nuclear-powered US Navy super-carrier, here the USS Theodore Roosevelt, as the Plymouth frigate joins up with the Big Stick’s battlegroup off the Eastern Seaboard.
Fresh from taking part in 200th birthday celebrations of the US National Anthem in Baltimore, Argyll sailed down Chesapeake Bay to link up with the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 12, emerging from its home in Norfolk, Virginia.
The 100,000-tonne flat-top (currently 5,000 sailors, 40-plus jets) is working up in the Atlantic and invited the British warship (4,500 tonnes, 190 crew, one helicopter) to join in its exercises with destroyer USS Farragut, cruiser USS Normandy and tanker USNS Kanawha.
Argyll was put through her paces by an air defence exercise as well as a stint guarding the carrier and carrying out in-company manoeuvres.
Some of the Brits were give a chance to look around the leviathan, while US sailors headed in the opposite direction to experience life aboard a Royal Navy frigate.
“The scale of the Roosevelt compared to our ship is staggering,” said Lt Ben Eglinton, Argyll’s deputy marine engineer officer.
“I think it must be difficult even if you are a crew member to know where everything is.
“The jet repair facility was fantastic and certainly something we would like onboard if we had the space!”
The exercises concluded with HMS Argyll replenishing at sea to take on fuel from the Kanawha. The units then parted ways, with HMS Argyll returning to her duties in the Caribbean.
“It is always important to exercise with our partner nations to practice our skills and prove our ability to work with each other,” said Argyll’s Commanding Officer Cdr Paul Hammond.
“We have worked with several US ships over the last few days and I am extremely proud of my crew as they quickly adapted to operations with a large US aircraft carrier.”
