22 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2009
No tail, all teeth
“ARE we going to be ship of the
The squadron was formed on the eve of the There’s plenty in the 5,400-litre tank to support says CPO Mercer.
month?” CPO Paul Mercer asks
2003 campaign against Saddam Hussein. Vessels operations in waters off the ‘sovereign base “There’s an awful lot provided – loads of
enthusiastically.
were needed to safeguard the waters around the areas’ – or carry the boats to Beirut (150 miles adventurous training, diving, gliding, parachuting
British ‘sovereign base areas’ on Cyprus. to to the east) or even Port Said – gateway to t off the cliffs.
No, the bad news, chief, is that HMS Dasher is
The finger of Fate pointed at Dasher her SuSuez (220 miles to the south). There has “If you like being outdoors, this is the place to
not our ‘featured ship’ for May 2009.
(formerly Bristol University Royal Navalval l bebeen talk of spending a few days in Egypt, come.”
The good news is that we have a whole page
Unit’s boat) and Pursuer (Sussex). bbut so far, there’s not been the time. We do not, of course, deploy two boats and
on Dasher and her sister Pursuer – aka the Royal
They haven’t changed a great deal “It is a unique command and a 12 sailors 3,500 nautical miles from Pompey to
Navy Cyprus Squadron.
since then – save for the general demanding job, flying the White Ensign enjoy life.
Back in January we proclaimed that 792 Naval
purpose machine-guns added, an thousands of miles from home,” says “Force protection is our key aim, particularly
Air Squadron – in charge of missile drones – was
awning on the bridge to keep the Lt Cdr Bush. for the tankers which come here about once a
the “only RN unit you can fit in a minibus”.
Mediterranean sun at bay, and military “It’s the closest you get these days to month to deliver fuel for all the British forces
Not necessarily so...
comms kit. the Mediterranean Fleet.” here,” says Lt Barrow.
The Cypriot sailors can beat the Culdrose se
Dasher’s CO Lt Charlie Barrow To prove it there’s a trophy in his is s Guarding the tankers is a lengthy and
unit by three.
reemembers the boat from his ooffice – the Med Fleet’s water polo o o rarather laborious job. Just the sort of
We do not, ordinarily, have space to list st
ststudent days. Not necessarily fondlyu . cup, last won by the Royal Marines es s momoment you don’t want the FOSTies on
entire ships’ companies. Here we can.
HHe points to a small cubbyhole behind four decades ago. bboard for one of their regular inspections,
Pursuer: CO Lt Cdr Alex Bush, XO C/
the wheelhouse. “I spent a lot of time And next to it there’s a tin of baby causing mayhem and watching the
Sgt Tom Harkins RM, MEO CPO(ET)
being very ill in that corner,” he says. spuds. “Sometimes you need reminding sailors’ response at the same time as
‘Fred’ Perry, WEO LET Gav Byers,
Luckily, the 90 square miles of ocean that certain things in life are just small carrying out their real mission.
navigator’s yeoman AB ‘Julie’ Andrews
for which the squadron is responsible potatoes,” the Cyprus Squadron CO But a dozen FOSTies came – a one-
and gunner’s yeoman AB Anna Hastie.
are fairly benign for much of the year – explains. to-one ratio of instructors to squadron
And for Dasher: CO Lt Charlie
although it’s fair to say that Dasher and His domain extends not merely to the personnel. And they were impressed.
Barrow, XO CPO Will Willets, MEO CPO
Pursuer still rock quite violently if you’re two Archer-class patrol boats moored Most ships get ‘satisfactory’ or ‘very
Paul Mercer, WEO LET ‘Dodge’ Long, ,
ththrowing them about. at the mole. He’s also responsible for r ssatisfactory’. The squadron was rated as
navigator’s yeoman AB ‘Gibbo’ Gibbons
The routine at Akrotiri is reasonably relaxed overall command of 17 Port and Maritime ‘good’.
and gunner’s yeoman AB ‘Mitch’ Mitchell.
– 6.45 to 13.30 every weekday, apart from Regiment’s landing craft and also a couple of Perhaps that glowing assessment from the
And that’s it. That is the Cyprus Squadron (plus
Mondays when the day ends at 16.30. Rigid Raiders owned by the Royal Engineers. FOSTies is down to the fact that life aboard
a handful of civilian ancillary staff).
One of the P2000s is at 60 minutes’ notice to So, we have a Navy-Army potpourri – the Dasher and Pursuer is “not quite in the typical
“There’s no tail here,” says Lt Cdr Bush, CO
move, the second at 12 hours’. Cyprus Joint Maritime Unit – stuck on the end Royal Navy mould”, according to Lt Barrow.
of both the squadron and the ‘flagship’, Pursuer.
The boats are expected to conduct three patrols of an RAF base. “When you have such a small ship’s company,
“We’re all teeth.”
a week, as well as providing force protection and “I love the fact that we’re doing an you cannot have the formality of the big ships. It
You’ll find him and his 11 comrades at the
a ‘workout’ for visiting RN ships by ‘attacking’ operational job in a joint environment,” has to be a bit relaxed.”
eastern extremity of RAF Akrotiri on the southern
them (as we reported in our April edition). enthuses CPO Mercer. “You see how And that’s a good thing.
shores of Cyprus. Drive through the base, past the
Leaving harbour is a complicated affair for the other Services work and live.” “You have a WEO who’s counting bullets
petrol station, cinema and officers’ mess, past the
most ships – sailors closed up, a succession of And they live quite nicely. and firing a GPMG. The next minute he’s on
Greek caves, turn right at the fuel depot, continue
navigational fixes taken from the bridge. Cyprus is a two-year posting the ropes tying up. Everyone understands
half a mile and, hey presto (or you can look on Here it’s more like parallel parking. Cast off, which means families come each other’s job,” says CPO Mercer.
Google Earth – 34˚34’16.17”N, 33˚01’58.90”E – manoeuvre around the landing craft berthed in out as well invariably – “And that’s good for the lads. Then
you’ll even see a P2000 alongside). front and a minute later you’re in Akrotiri Bay. No they live on Akrotiri base, they go back into the wider Fleet with
“I used to think the best view in the Navy was need to look at the charts. where there’s a school, a much broader knowledge of the
at the Northern Diving Group in Faslane until I At the wheel of Dasher today is CPO Mercer. cinema, gym, shops Navy.”
came here,” says Lt Cdr Bush. He’s also the boat’s quartermaster. And marine and so on. Main picture: LA(Phot) Brian Douglas,
It is, as they say, not bad. Beneath his engineer officer. “I enjoy the life
FRPU North
squadron’s offices is the small man-made His ‘day job’ is to look after the engines – just out here. The
harbour, Akrotiri Mole, home to a cluster of boats, like the ones you’ll find in a Challenger 2 tank – family enjoy
Army landing craft, Rigid Raiders and the two RN which guzzle 250 litres of fuel an hour if you push the life out
P2000 patrol boats. them hard. here,”
● A brief pause for half of Dasher’s ship’s company (above) while (below) the boat trails
her wake across Akrotiri Bay
022_NN_May.indd 1 17/4/09 14:07:24
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