Yeovilton celebrates Lynx milestone

FORTY years of Britain’s fastest and most nimble helicopter will be celebrated this summer in the showpiece public event at the home of the Lynx.

The 2011 Yeovilton Air Day will be a celebration of the long-serving helicopter, with navies from around the world sending their Lynx to Somerset to take part in an international fly past.

The Lynx – in service with three Fleet Air Arm squadrons all based at Yeovilton – is one of the most successful British exports over the past four decades: more than 200 of the versatile helicopters are operating with 11 navies.

In the Royal Navy’s case, the helicopter’s the backbone of operations by frigates and destroyers in the form of the Mk8, while the Commando Helicopter Force flies the reconnaissance model over land and sea.

Cornwall frees pirate hostages after three-month ordeal

RAISING their arms in the air under the guns of HMS Cornwall, 17 Somali pirates surrender to the frigate – bringing to an end a 92-day reign of terror.

For this pirate ‘mother ship’ is actually a Yemeni fishing boat – with five of its crew held hostage by the 17 brigands since early November.

The fishermen have now been freed, the pirate skiffs (and all the associated piratical paraphernalia – ladders, grappling hooks, powerful outboard motors, fuel drums, weapons – sent to Davy Jones’ Locker) thanks to Cornwall’s boarding team.

The Fighting 99 responded to a distress signal from a South Korean merchantman after the Yong Jin spotted the dhow acting suspiciously.

The Type 22 stopped the battered vessel from attacking the Yong Jin, then prepared to board with the ship’s Lynx hovering overhead. It was, said Cornwall’s CO Cdr David Wilkinson, “a very slick operation”.

Frigates work together for the final time

In the foreground HMS Cumberland. Beyond her, her sister HMS Cornwall.

Never again will two Type 22 frigates work together on operations – in this case safeguarding the troubled waters east of Suez.

Both are conducting their final deployments: the Fighting Sausage initially in the Gulf, now outside it; Cornwall as the flagship of Combined Task Force 151 keeping pirates under the thumb off the Horn of Africa.

All four 22s were axed under last year’s defence review: HMS Chatham has already paid off, Campbeltown is due to decommission imminently.

Cornwall and Richmond meet up to tackle piracy

FRESH from a rendezvous with an old friend – the former HMS Active – another encounter with a well-known comrade for HMS Cornwall.

This time the Indian Ocean meet-up was with HMS Richmond, new to the area as she begins European Union humanitarian duties.

As the Type 23 has just arrived in Pirate Alley, while the Fighting 99 is an old hand, Richmond called upon Cornwall’s expertise.

Her command team received a thorough briefing on the latest information regarding brigandage in the region from the Type 22’s CO, Cdr David Wilkinson; his ship is currently the command vessel for Combined Task Force 151, one of several naval groups trying to deal with the problems of piracy, terrorism and smuggling in waters east of Suez.

As for Richmond, she’s attached to the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) under the direction of Spain’s Rear Admiral Juan Rodríguez.

Mid-ocean rendezvous with an old friend for HMS Cornwall

WHAT does 21 plus 22 equal?

That’s right, naval firepower.

The 21 is Pakistan’s PNS Shah Jahan – formerly Type 21 frigate HMS Active – and the 22 is our very own HMS Cornwall, both keeping pirates under the knout off the Horn of Africa.

Cornwall is the flagship of Combined Task Force 151, the international naval force tackling piracy and other criminal activities in the Indian Ocean.

That task force is currently headed by Pakistan’s Cdre Aleem and his staff, and when Shah Jahan joined 151, it allowed a bit of an Anglo-Pakistani get together.

While the Shah Jahan’s Allouette helicopter ferried Cdre Aleem to the Pakistani frigate, Cornwall ship’s company enjoyed a rather more basic form of transport to take them across to the new arrival (ie sea boat).

A number of sailors from both ships ‘cross-polled’ for a glimpse of life in the respective navies, among them ET(WE) Sam Cassidy. He’s too young to have served on T21s... but he knows a man who did.

"It was amazing being in a ship that my father knew so well and that I had visited as a little boy –  the memories came flooding back,” he said.

“I’ve taken loads of photos for my dad and can’t wait to tell him all about it! And it was great to see her in such good shape and at the centre of Pakistan Navy operations.”

Active was laid down 40 years ago and served under the White Ensign, earning battle honours in the Falklands, until 1994 when she was sold to Pakistan.