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Revamp on the ramp for Penzance in Bahrain
by rnn@codestorm.co.uk(Royal Navy News) via Royal Navy News
HMS Grimsby high and dry next to American patrol ship USS Whirlwind THIS is what 600 tonnes of cutting-edge Royal Navy minehunter looks like out of the water. On the blocks at the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard in Bahrain is HMS Penzance, removed from her natural element for a regular overhaul. Penzance arrived in Bahrain at the end of July after a 7,900-mile journey from Faslane, home of the Sandown-class flotilla, to Bahrain, home of the RN’s four Gulf-based minehunters. Since then she’s been busy training on a grand and small scale, from the world’s biggest mine warfare exercise in the autumn, to joint work-outs with Coalition and local navies operating in the Gulf and surveying routes around the region. A look at the slipway in Bahrain through the bull ring on Penzance's bow Penzance and her sisters were designed in final years of the Cold War with the much cooler waters of the North Sea in mind, but over the past dozen years she and her sister ships in the Sandown class have spent much of their time east of Suez, from helping to clear the waters off Iraq in the 2003 war to maintaining a permanent minehunter presence in the region since late 2006. The Royal Navy keeps four minehunters in Bahrain – Sandown-class ships to deal with mines in deeper waters (currently Penzance and Shoreham) and Hunt-class for shallower seas (HMS Atherstone and Chiddingfold) – to keep the sea lanes clear, especially the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Each ship spends three to three-and-a-half years in the Gulf, so to prepare her for the next stage, Penzance was hauled out of the water so work could be carried out on her specialist Voith-Schneider propellers as well as revamping the diesel generators. “A standard deployment for a frigate or destroyer is nine months, so for these ships to stay here and remain so busy for three years is a big task for the engineers,” said WO2 Del Murray, Penzance’s marine engineer officer who was overseeing the overhaul. “My team and I have relished the challenge, but our maintenance period has provided a chance to deal with some of the underlying issues that we could not solve when the ship was in the water.” Penzance’s Commanding Officer Lt Cdr Jim Blythe said his crew were delighted with the work carried out at the Bahrain yard. “In just a short period, the ship was given the care and attention she needed to remain at the forefront of the UK’s mine clearance capability in the Gulf region,” he added.
by rnn@codestorm.co.uk(Royal Navy News) via Royal Navy News
HMS Grimsby high and dry next to American patrol ship USS Whirlwind THIS is what 600 tonnes of cutting-edge Royal Navy minehunter looks like out of the water. On the blocks at the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard in Bahrain is HMS Penzance, removed from her natural element for a regular overhaul. Penzance arrived in Bahrain at the end of July after a 7,900-mile journey from Faslane, home of the Sandown-class flotilla, to Bahrain, home of the RN’s four Gulf-based minehunters. Since then she’s been busy training on a grand and small scale, from the world’s biggest mine warfare exercise in the autumn, to joint work-outs with Coalition and local navies operating in the Gulf and surveying routes around the region. A look at the slipway in Bahrain through the bull ring on Penzance's bow Penzance and her sisters were designed in final years of the Cold War with the much cooler waters of the North Sea in mind, but over the past dozen years she and her sister ships in the Sandown class have spent much of their time east of Suez, from helping to clear the waters off Iraq in the 2003 war to maintaining a permanent minehunter presence in the region since late 2006. The Royal Navy keeps four minehunters in Bahrain – Sandown-class ships to deal with mines in deeper waters (currently Penzance and Shoreham) and Hunt-class for shallower seas (HMS Atherstone and Chiddingfold) – to keep the sea lanes clear, especially the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Each ship spends three to three-and-a-half years in the Gulf, so to prepare her for the next stage, Penzance was hauled out of the water so work could be carried out on her specialist Voith-Schneider propellers as well as revamping the diesel generators. “A standard deployment for a frigate or destroyer is nine months, so for these ships to stay here and remain so busy for three years is a big task for the engineers,” said WO2 Del Murray, Penzance’s marine engineer officer who was overseeing the overhaul. “My team and I have relished the challenge, but our maintenance period has provided a chance to deal with some of the underlying issues that we could not solve when the ship was in the water.” Penzance’s Commanding Officer Lt Cdr Jim Blythe said his crew were delighted with the work carried out at the Bahrain yard. “In just a short period, the ship was given the care and attention she needed to remain at the forefront of the UK’s mine clearance capability in the Gulf region,” he added.
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