HMS Shoreham leads frigate HMS Argyll, flanked by American minehunters USS Dextrous (nearest the camera) and USS Gladiator. Royal Navy Picture
Royal And US Navies Link Up For Gulf Mine Workout
Four minehunters from the two allies’ navies pooled their collective resources to work with two of the Royal Navy’s frigates operating in the Gulf for two action-packed days which extended far beyond the art of hunting mines.
Royal Navy press release
Both navies maintain flotillas of mine warfare vessels in Bahrain – a blend of British Hunt and Sandown-classes (designed to find mines in shallow and deep waters respectively) and US Navy Avenger-class ‘mine hunter-killers’ – to ensure the free flow of shipping in the Gulf.
With the region responsible for one sixth of the world’s oil and one third of its liquid natural gas and the waters blighted by mines as recently as the second Gulf War in 2003, the two navies train regularly to ensure that should these waters be sown again, they can be cleared in short order.
Doing the clearing on this occasion were USS Gladiator and USS Dextrous and HMS Shoreham and HMS Brocklesby, all under Commander Neil Griffiths and his staff – who direct the Royal Navy’s Gulf mine forces on a daily basis.
Minehunting is slow and painstaking, the ships themselves are agile but not fast. For protection, they were given HMS Argyll and HMS Montrose, which can call upon a panoply of weaponry to fend off foes above, on and below the water.
“Our @RoyalNavy partners have tremendous experience in mine warfare & it was a great opportunity for us to learn from each other, building our bonds & improving our ability to operate jointly when needed.” #NavalReadiness to keep critical sea lanes open.Bit.ly/USUKMCMEX20
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The exercise began with the minehunters working together to clear a corridor through a (mock) mine danger zone.
HMS Shoreham alone investigated 40 ‘suspicious’ objects with her Seafox Mine Disposal System – a robot submersible which feeds back live imagery to the operations room and can also be used to safely detonate a mine; alternatively, the ships can send their dive teams down to place charges and neutralise the explosives – which Shoreham did on three occasions.
That group then showed its ability to defend itself against a fast moving simulated surface threat.
HMS Argyll choreographed the response and provided protection with her 4.5in main gun, while her Wildcat helicopter buzzed overhead.
The Wildcat – callsign Razorback after Argyll’s Wild Boar crest – then got the chance to switch sides and play as the hostile threat in the skies, doing its best to threaten the important work of the MCMs with a skilful show of tactical flying until it was taken out by Argyll’s new Sea Ceptor missile system.
The joint exercise concluded with an impressive display of ship handling as four of the vessels took up close formation for a final sail past before breaking away to continue delivering ongoing operations in the region.
–End–
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