10 NAVY NEWS, JUNE 2009
Talent
enjoys
Indian
summer
NO, THIS is not a detail from Claus
Bergen’s legendary submarine portait The
Commander, but the sun setting over the
Indian Ocean as seen from the casing of
HMS Talent.
It’s not often that you fi nd one of Her Majesty’s
Submarines on the surface – they prefer, as their motto
suggests, to come unseen.
But the Trafalgar-class boat has spent a surprising
amount of time riding the waves, rather than prowling
beneath them, not least because there’s been a lot
of to-ing and fro-ing between Talent and the
skimmers of the Taurus task group.
A sizeable number of sailors
clambered aboard the T-boat to
experience life below the waves, and d
a sizeable number of men of Talent
headed off for day trips with the
surface ships.
And what do you always need
for a day trip?
A wallet.
A mobile phone’s probably a
must too these days.
A brolly or waterproof coat could
come in handy.
But a towel? No, you’ll leave that in the airing
cupboard.
Unless you’re Lt Barry ‘Stocky’ Stockton. Offered
a day aboard Her Majesty’s Ship Ocean in the Indian
Ocean, the submariner jumped at the chance… then
grabbed his towel.
Water’s at a premium aboard HMS Talent. Less so
on Ocean where coiffured matelots wander around the
helicopter assault ship having washed at leisure in her
showers.
And Stocky wasn’t going to turn down the chance
of a Hollywood dhobey (the novelty of not turning off
the water between soaping and rinsing, something not
afforded the poor folks of HMS Talent).
The junior offi cer was one of numerous deeps invited
to pop across to the Mighty O, while a mixed bag of
skimmers, WAFUs, Yanks and staff from the Taurus
task group squeezed into Talent.
For Stocky, a submariner for more than two decades,
even more exciting than a thorough wash and the
chance to fi ll the Talent larder courtesy of the Ocean
NAAFI, was his fi rst ride in a helicopter – those nice
chaps of 820 NAS winched him aboard a Merlin.
His shipmates soaked up the sun on Ocean’s fl ight
deck, knuckling down to a volleyball contest (not a
sport which can be practised with ease aboard the
T-boat…).
Despite their lack of match fi tness, the deeps
reached the semi fi nals (or that’s what they told
their comrades on their return and, Talent’s weapon
engineer offi cer Lt Cdr Harry Nottley assures us,
“submariners never cheat and rarely lie”.
Anyway, when not in the shower, chomping nutty
or playing volleyball, the men of Talent have been
chasing HM warships around the Indian Ocean… and
been chased by HM warships (plus HM Merlins and HM
torpedoes).
Once through Suez and the Red Sea, the Taurus
group got stuck into Exercise Blue Toreador. We
featured the above-water bit last month, but now a
view from below.
Talent was charged with evading the destroyer/
frigate screen and torpedoing Ocean and tanker RFA
Wave Ruler.
Not easy when HMS Somerset has the best
submarine-hunting sonar in the world. Throw the
Merlins into the equation and it’s even harder.
“It was those ‘dippers’ that gave Talent her biggest
headache deep beneath the ocean’s surface,” rued Lt
Cdr Nottley.
Sore head or not, Talent got her shots away and
dispatched the two prized assets with simulated
torpedoes – watched by more than a dozen visitors
from above the waves.
“The opportunity for so much ‘cross-pollination’
has been a real highlight,” said Talent’s CO Cdr Simon
Asquith.
“It’s great to be able to demonstrate our capability
fi rst-hand, share tactical knowledge and have the
chance to dispel a few submarine myths.”
And for those heading in the opposite direction… “It
was great to see what they were all about,” said Stocky
after his fi rst experience of HM Grey Funnel Line in
more than 20 years, “but I am really glad to be back
amongst the home comforts of HMS Talent.”
Sadly, there’ll be no more cross-pollination for some
time. Talent has parted company with the Taurus group;
she headed north to Fujairah in the UAE for a break
from operations, while the amphibians made for India,
Bangladesh and the Malay peninsula (see right).
010_NN_June.indd 1 20/5/09 22:07:56
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