Some Interesting Articles from the MoD
by Kind Permission
Defence Public Relations (Bureau).
Scourge
of Tirpitz and terrorists
VICTORY has Trafalgar, Gloucester has Crete and HMS Campbeltown holds the
St Nazaire Raid up as its proudest battle honour.
Labelled ‘the greatest raid of all’, the attack on the docks of the French port
at a stroke scuppered any hope of Hitler’s flagship Tirpitz sortieing in the
Atlantic.
Today’s Campbeltown too prides herself on being a thorn in the side of fanatics,
in the 21st Century not dictators but terrorists.
The core of the Type 22 frigate’s operations in the past 12 months have been
focused in the Arabian Gulf in the ongoing war on terror.
In her spell east of Suez last year, Campbeltown hailed 3,000 ships and her
boarding party searched 20 vessels as Allied nations attempted to build up a
comprehensive picture of movements on the Seven Seas.
Having returned from the Gulf region in December, the ship entered maintenance
before returning to sea to undergo Operational Sea Training.
With that completed, the Devonport warship left home last month to conduct a
six-month tour of duty in the Gulf.
Surprisingly for a Scottish town with such a rich heritage, its name has only
been borne by two of Her Majesty’s warships.
The first was acquired by the Senior Service under the lend-lease agreement
struck with President Roosevelt.
A flush deck destroyer commissioned in the US Navy as USS Buchanan, following
the 1940 agreement she was handed over to Britain for refit in Devonport.
The lend-lease deal was intended to provide the Royal Navy with much-needed
escorts for the struggle against the U-boats.
Instead, Campbeltown ultimately found herself selected for a daring assault on
St Nazaire.
The dry dock at the French port was the only one capable of accommodating the
battleship Tirpitz, then very much a threat to Allied convoy traffic.
On March 28 1942, accompanied by numerous small craft, Campbeltown rammed the
lock gates as commandos stormed the dock facilities.
When the fighting died down, German troops inspected the destroyer, but failed
to notice the false bulkhead hiding four tons of high explosive.
The timed charge went off as planned, wrecking the lock gates and thus rendering
the dry dock useless. Tirpitz never operated in the expanses of the Atlantic.
Five Victoria Crosses were awarded for actions that day and it’s not surprising
that today’s Campbeltown maintains strong links with the St Nazaire Society.
There’s been nothing quite so dramatic involving the second HMS Campbeltown.
She arrived on the scene in 1989, having been laid down in late 1985 at Cammell
Laird’s yard on Merseyside.
The frigate is now enjoying her second commission, after a refit in 1998 and,
more recently, a £10m ‘mini refit’ in 2003.
Affiliations actively supported by today’s ship company include the namesake
town in western Scotland – the ship paid her first visit there in four years in
2004 – and, more unusually, Campbelltown (with two ‘l’s) in Pennsylvania, USA.
Other affiliations include J Battery Royal Horse Artillery, 1 Battalion Welsh
Guards, 24 Sqn RAF, the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers, Springbank
Distillery in Campbeltown, Birmingham Nautical Club, and the Sea Cadets of TS
Campbeltown in Bridgwater and Alberta, Canada.
Good causes to benefit from the continued support of the ship are Children’s
Hospice South West and Woodford Children’s Ward in Plymouth’s Derriford
Hospital, the chosen charity of the petty officers’ mess.
Facts and Figures
Class:
Batch 3 Type 22 Frigate
Pennant
Number: F86
Builder:
Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Launched:
October 7 1987
Commissioned:
May 27 1989
Length:
148 metres
Beam:
14.8 metres
Draft:
6.4 metres
Top
Speed:
30 kts
Range:
4,500 nautical miles at 18 kts
Displacement:
4,850 tonnes
Complement:
255
Engines:
2 x Rolls Royce Spey gas turbines; 2 x Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines
Weapons
Systems: Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Seawolf anti-air missiles, 1 x 4.5in gun, 2
x 20mm guns,
1 x Goalkeeper automated air defence gun, 4 x Seagnat decoy launchers, 4 x DLF3
decoy launchers
Aircraft:
Up to two Lynx, or one Sea King
Additional
features: CSS Command Support System, Data Link Systems 11 and 14, DFA7
Computer-
Assisted Command System
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/1568.html - HMS Campbeltown
Defence News
HMS Argyll deters unwelcome sea creatures
As if HMS Argyll does not face enough challenges while patrolling dangerous
Iraqi waters on deployment in extreme heat, she also had to fight off unwanted
guests from the deep.
A cuttlefish gate-crashes HMS Argyll [Picture: HMS Argyll]
The Devonport-based Type 23 frigate is accustomed to maintaining a credible
deterrent protecting vital oil installations with her coalition partners in the
Northern Arabian Gulf against possible attack from terrorists in difficult
security and climatic conditions.
However, the very heat she is constantly battling in order to maintain a
comfortable life for those on board has produced an unusual new challenge - a
constant war against an influx of sea creatures which, if left unchecked, could
damage the ship's engines, cooling and other systems.
Patrolling in shallow water has had an unexpected result, the ship has become
akin to a mini-aquarium. Travelling at slow speeds has allowed a large variety
of wildlife to enter HMS Argyll's vast array of machinery and some of the more
robust species have taken root.
The gate-crashing guests include hardy barnacles in the ship's main engine room
to dangerous stinging jellyfish and even sea snakes in the sea filters for the
diesel engines.
The warship's engineers have therefore, been working extra hard to overcome not
only the heat but the side effects to keep the radars, communications, engines
and auxiliaries going to maintain the only British warship in the Arabian Gulf
constantly on station in past months.
A sea snake heads for the diesel engine's sea filters [Picture: HMS Argyll]
Chief Petty Officer Marine Engineering Artificer Simon Robertson has a crucial
role keeping the frigate's cooling systems operating effectively.
In the extreme heat the continual struggle to keep everything operational has
proved to be a mammoth task. All of the weapon systems rely on cooling and power
within strict limits that when in the UK is straight forward, but in the Gulf
during the summer months is a huge challenge.
Having left Kuwait to begin the last patrol in the Northern Arabian Gulf of her
deployment, HMS Argyll has been coping with some of the highest ever levels of
fishing vessels and coastal traffic.
Maintaining the exclusion zone around the oil platforms has proved challenging
as novice fisherman mistakenly enter the patrolled area and have to be coaxed
away. Boardings have also continued with zeal as the local force commanders are
policing the area with higher visibility to discourage piracy and lawlessness in
the area.
Although approaching the end of the deployment, HMS Argyll has not had a chance
to relax. The oil terminals are the vital key to the regeneration of Iraq and
are the main export route for Iraqi oil.
A Dragonfly hitches a ride [Picture: HMS Argyll]
Much of the critical work here at sea often goes unseen. With a major terrorist
attack amidst the oil rigs last year, where three American sailors were sadly
killed, the threat remains very real, and vigilance must be constantly
maintained. HMS Argyll's Commanding Officer, Commander Will Warrender said:
"Every member of the 202 strong ship's company in the ship do their utmost to
deliver on a single aim. That aim is to protect the critical assets that Iraq
holds so the revenue they produce can improve the infrastructure and daily life
for every Iraqi citizen.
"Unseen, except for a few hundred fishermen, everyone has fought to keep HMS
Argyll on station and fully operational. I have been amazed and humbled by the
diligence, tenacity and immense dedication that I have seen over the last six
months to support our mission."
HMS Argyll is now on her way home, having handed over Operation Telic guardship
duties to fellow Devonport warship HMS Campbeltown.
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/1017.html - HMS Argyll