NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2009 7
Little rest for
Trenchant...
FOR ten of the past 12 months,
one submarine has been
prowling the oceans of the
world – silently, stealthily.
HMS Trenchant could be
found (or, more accurately
speaking, was playing being
hard to fi nd) in the North
Atlantic, Med, Arctic, North
Sea, Seychelles, Gulf and
Indian Ocean.
And she appeared on the
telly. Five aspiring submarine
COs joined the T-boat for
● (From l-r) Mne ‘Mick’ Laski – “an asset to the Corps”; Cpl Tom
Perisher, fi lmed in part by Sky
Gaden – “a natural leader”; Paul Upton – “one of life’s true gentlemen”;
News.
Rifl eman Jamie Gunn – “never too tired to ‘crack on’”
Trenchant sailed initially
in February 2008 for a very
varied five months away, which
included working with RN
skimmers exercising in Norway,
dropping in on the Dutch in
Den Helder, and hosting the
Teacher and the Perisher
hopefuls in home waters.
‘See you in the
After a spell of summer leave
and maintenance in Devonport,
the hunter-killer left home once
more, this time bound for east
of Suez for four months – which
took her away from Blighty over
the festive period.
During that deployment, runs
ashore were enjoyed at Fujairah
Big Man’s bar’
in the United Arab Emirates and
at Mahe in the Seychelles, in
company with RFA Diligence.
THE ongoing struggle with
you in the Big Man’s bar.”
offered the chance to join Land
Trenchant passed numerous
the Taleban in southern
Cpl Tom Gaden, L/Cpl Paul Rover as a mechanic – but chose
signifi cant milestones during
Afghanistan has claimed
Upton and Rifleman Jamie Gunn the Army instead.
the demanding ten-month of 1st Battalion The Rifles all died
His engine skills were put to
period, none more so than in the lives of four men of their wounds after an explosion
good use in his short Army career
January.
serving with 3 Commando
wrecked their vehicle during a both in the UK and abroad.
Twenty-one years after
Brigade.
patrol in the Gereshk district of “No job was ever too big and he
commissioning, the reactor
Royal Marine ‘Mick’ Laski died
central Helmand. was never too tired to ‘crack on’
powered the Devonport-based
during a fire-fight with insurgents
All three men were working and get something sorted,” said
boat over the half a million
while three soldiers serving with
with one of the ‘omelette’ teams Capt Camp.
miles barrier.
1 Rifles, the Army battalion
training and assisting Afghan “He retained a cool head
attached to the green berets, fell
forces and were conducting a joint regardless of the situation –
... or for HMS
victim to a single bomb blast.
Anglo-Afghan patrol when they ‘Gunny’ was ever-smiling and
Mne Michael ‘Mick’ Laski was
were fatally wounded. always willing to laugh. He was
“It has been a bitter blow,”
on patrol with Yankee Company,
often at the centre of the banter,
Somerset
said Lt Col Joe Cavanagh,
45 Commando, when the troops
easily giving as good as he got.”
Commanding Officer 1 Rifles. “Of
were subjected to heavy – and
all of the Operational Mentoring
WHEN not being targeted by
accurate – enemy fire.
and Liaison Teams, Tom Gaden’s
members of her own ship’s
The 21-year-old Liverpudlian
was one of the tightest knit.”
company (see page 4), frigate
was caught in open ground and
Cpl Gaden from Taunton had
HMS Somerset has been
struck by a Taleban bullet as he
served his country since 2002,
knuckling down to life with the
and his comrades returned fire.
serving in Cyprus and Iraq, in
Taurus task force.
He never regained consciousness.
particular alongside the Naval
The ship has been working
Mne Laski was on his second
Transition Team at Umm Qasr.
closely with her Devonport-based
tour of duty in Afghanistan. He
He was, said his CO Capt Rich
sister Argyll and France’s Dupleix
deployed almost immediately to
Camp, “an exceptional NCO and
as the escorts of the amphibious
Helmand in 2006 after passing
a natural leader.
group currently in the eastern
out of Lympstone and returned
“The loss of Tom is a crushing
Med.
last autumn as a newly-qualified
blow to the team, professionally
Somerset will be going ‘all
signals specialist.
and personally. He was a close
the way’ with the force (ie to the
He was a passionate motorcycle
friend to us all and held in high
Far East), adding 20,000-plus
buff, a enthusiastic rather than
regard across the regiment.”
nautical miles to the odometer in
accomplished dancer and, given
L/Cpl Paul ‘Uppers’ Upton, 31,
doing so.
his Merseyside roots, comrades
had been in the Army for more
Before enjoying a stand-off
said he was full of banter.
than a decade – as a regular and
with the amphibious vessels in
“He was always reminding
reservist, before re-enlisting at the
Malta’s Grand Harbour, eight
me how elite all Scousers are
end of 2007.
days of intense work-up were
compared to the rest of the
His experience in civvy street
arranged.
world,” said fellow signaller Mne
and his maturity was appreciated
That saw a Seawolf missile
Karl Neave.
by comrades – as was his artistic
shoot and a workout for both her
“Mick was a true professional
talent.
2050 and 2087 sonars scanning
when on the ground, getting
“Uppers was a keen – and
the ocean for submarines.
amongst it with the lads, a job he
talented – artist who spent a lot
It has been a non-stop 2009
was proud of and loved doing.”
of his spare time with his sketch
for Somerset’s ship’s company;
Mne Mark Goldsbury, also
book. The results were outstanding
there was little break for the ship
in Yankee Company’s signals – he had a waiting list for tattoo
before she sailed on Taurus 09.
detachment, added: “He was designs across the base,” Capt
Before departing Devonport
the most professional man I’ve Camp said.
in mid-February she squeezed
worked with and there was never “He was a genuinely kind
in five and a half weeks of
a dull moment, whether it was person, one of life’s true gentlemen.
‘directed continuation training’ him spinning his run-ashore dits He always had time to chat to the
under the banner of FOST – or giving advice on what car or lads and was the centre of a lot of
basically specialised instruction motorbike to buy. morale in the team.”
geared towards the amphibious “Mick was an asset to the Twenty-one-year-old Jamie
deployment. Corps. Rest in peace, mate. See Gunn from Monmouth had been
Lusty goes Jungly
YOU don’t have to go to Cyprus and the sunshine (824 NAS) and even a Chinook from RAF 18 Sqn.
to conduct amphibious operations. The Yeovilton airmen spent a fortnight aboard
No, it’s perfectly possible (if a bit chillier...) in the ship, beginning with the basics and ending
the UK. with a real-time helicopter assault (members of
HMS Illustrious played host to Jungly training Lusty’s ship’s company played the part of Royals
squadron 848 NAS to re-learn the art of helicopter as the latter are all busy in Afghanistan and the
insertion. Med).
Lusty is Britain’s ‘strike carrier’, which means “Landing on a big empty flight deck is not as
for the past few years she’s devoted the bulk of challenging as having to operate around other
her efforts to fixed-wing exercises. aircraft, so the additional traffic provided the right
But she can double as a launchpad for Royal exposure to operations from a cramped deck,”
Marines (as she did during the Agfhanistan said Illustrious’ ‘wings’ Commander Air Cdr Mark
campaign of 2001-02). Deller.
And with her sister Ark Royal, which is a “It also allowed the flight deck teams to refresh
designated commando carrier, undergoing their skills with different aircraft types.”
maintenance, Illustrious stepped up to the line. Old friends return to the ship this month in the
Setting a Sea King down on 600ft of flight deck shape of the Naval Strike Wing whose Harriers will
isn’t especially hard for our aviators. be conducting training operations.
So to make things a little trickier for the After that Lusty gears up for a visit to the
Commando Helicopter Force fliers, the carrier Thames at Greenwich as the focal point for Fly
filled her flight deck with Lynx (847 NAS), Merlins Navy 100 celebrations in the capital.
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