Diving Dutchmen join Brocklesby beneath the Mediterranean

SOMEWHERE beneath the surface of the Mediterranean divers from the Royal Navy and their Dutch counterparts ‘fly’ the NATO flag.

Dive teams from HMS Brocklesby and the HMNLS Haarlem plunged into the central Med to test their abilities to work together – and help each other out should the clearance divers get into difficulties.

Both ships are attached to NATO’s Standing Mine Countermeasures Group 1, an international mine warfare force which moves around European waters dealing with the detritus of wars past and ensuring Allied navies are always ready to deal with wars present and future.

Having exercised around the Strait of Gibraltar and the Western Mediterranean earlier this month, the group has shifted eastwards to carry out Operation Active Endeavour.

It’s a task typically performed by frigates and destroyers: monitoring shipping movements in the Mediterranean, ensuring only vessels plying lawful trade on the high seas pass.

The Portsmouth-based Hunt and Haarlem broke off from those monitoring activities for a day of diving exercises.

Brocklesby’s clearance divers can operate to depths of 60 metres (196ft) to tackle the threat of mines or underwater explosive devices.

If something goes wrong at those depths – typically decompression sickness (aka ‘the bends’) – here in the UK a casualty is flown immediately to a specialist unit in a hospital, such as the centre at Chichester…

…something not, of course, possible in the Med. In the middle of a (fake) minefield. Instead, Brocklesby features a recompression chamber that allows the ship’s company to treat a diver initially.

Which is exactly what they did in tandem with the Dutch divers (without, of course, subjecting the casualty to the real effects of the bends).

“The exercise was a great way to test our skills,” said Brocklesby’s executive officer Lt Jace Hutchinson RAN – also the group diving officer for the NATO force.

“It’s crucial we exercise a diving emergency as often as possible to keep not only the dive team but also the whole ship’s company prepared for any eventuality.

“It was also good to dive in company with our Dutch colleagues and share experiences – all of which will serve the task group well.”