Landing craft crews face tough test in Plymouth

WITH bangs, crashes, the drift of green and white smoke and a flurry of craft buzzing around the Hamoaze, budding Royal Marines landing craft commanders and crew faced their final test.

A 14-week course teaching green berets the art of operating large and medium landing craft as well as ORC patrol boats and small rubber motor boats reached its climax with a beach assault in Plymouth Naval Base.

Over an hour-long exercise the commandos demonstrated all they had learned in the hands of 10 Squadron from the RM Landing Craft Specialisation Training School from beach surveting and putting a small reconnaissance team ashore to landing two dozen marines, trucks, BV tracked vehicles and the 52-ton beach recovery vehicle, the BEAST.

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Bye, George as support ship sails out of Plymouth

WITH the waves crashing against Plymouth’s outer breakwater, RFA Fort George leaves the Royal Navy’s West Country home for the final time.

The one-stop support ship is one of the ‘forgotten victims’ of the Strategic Defence and Security Review; while all the media attention (and we too fell into this trap admittedly) focused on the demise of HMS Ark Royal, the Harrier jump jets and all four Type 22 frigates, three auxiliaries were also axed – a smaller surface fleet requires a smaller support fleet.

Final entry to Plymouth for proud Chatham

WITH a flash of fire from her ceremonial gun, HMS Chatham exchanges formalities with Plymouth’ Royal Citadel for the final time.

Tugs provide their traditional send-off as the youngest of Britain’s last four Type 22 frigates becomes the first to pay off in the wake off October’s defence cuts.

The 20-year-old warship made her last entry into Plymouth yesterday afternoon, watched by a few score well-wishers on the Devonshire city’s seafront who braved bitter conditions to witness the sad occasion.

The final entry – which saw the frigate uphold the RN custom of trailing a long, narrow decommissioning pennant – is the latest act in Chatham’ paying-off process.