10 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2010 Picture: PO(Phot) Paul A’Barrow, FRPU East


● AB Jonathan Howie salutes his great great grandfather and fallen comrades lost at the Battle of Coronel in 1914


● Portland’s boarding party stalks her Cdr Mike Knott oversees the passage Canals from his bridge


Around the Rock around the clock


RACING away from the Rock at high speed is HMS Sabre, one of the constant guardians of Gibraltar’s waters.


The 18-strong Gibraltar Squadron – patrol boats HMS Sabre and Scimitar plus three RIBs – usher all visiting RN vessels into and out of harbour. They also scour Gib’s territorial waters and coastline every day to ensure nothing untoward is happening. They’ve been doing so since 1985 – which means it’s time to celebrate the squadron’s 25th anniversary.


The milestone was marked with a reception and Sunset ceremony at the Tower, the distinctive British Forces HQ in Gib.


At the reception, the squadron’s fi rst CO Lt Cdr Maurice Fitzgerald proposed a toast and ordered ‘Up Spirits’. Sailors don’t ignore orders, of course, so tots were enjoyed all round. The squadron can trace its roots back to the (cough, splutter) RAF and Marine Craft Unit (No. 1102). When it passed into history in 1985, its boats Sunderland and Stirling were handed over to the RN, who promptly rechristened them HM Ships Hart and Cormorant. They were replaced six years later by P2000s Ranger and Trumpeter


Northern Ireland, in 2003. Formally, the squadron is responsible for


Kind h and Co


Falklands. And farewell to winter. After four months prowling around Britain’s South Atlantic dependencies, HMS Portland has seen the last of the archipelago – for this deployment at least. In


before Whitehall determined security in Gibraltar should be stepped up in the wake of the September 11 2001 atrocities in the USA. The Navy dispatched the current patrol craft, fresh from duties in


escorting RN vessels from the limit of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters until they enter the security boom in the naval base. It also carries out deterrence patrols to stop unauthorised access of territorial waters and, if necessary, to respond to any incursions. In short, says squadron and Scimitar CO Lt


● The southern sun pierces the Falkland clouds as HMS Portland leaves the islands for good


Cdr Matt Sykes, the unit is “on the water every day playing a key role”. His deputy, Lt Charlie Luxford, CO of HMS


departing East Cove Military Port for good, the frigate paid a two-day visit to the settlements of Goose Green and Darwin. Some of the ship’s company managed to get ashore during the day and a lucky few were able to join the Commanding Offi cer, Cdr Mike Knott, at a leaving party for the Governor of the Falkland Islands, Alan Huckle. It was a cold night made warm by the Southern Hemisphere’s hospitality and entertainment. His departure was soon


followed by Portland’s – after a spot of upper-deck husbandry and storing ship. It was a fi ne, clear day and the


Sabre, adds: “Security here is key. We are not far from many threats. “We spend a lot of time at sea, working with other units on the Rock and our allies to ensure that we have a full picture of traffi c passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.”


departure was made all the more memorable by the fantastic send- off the ship received from the people and aircraft of the Mount Pleasant Complex, the Falkland Islands’ military base. First, the search and rescue Sea King came out to say goodbye, followed swiftly by an impressive fl y-by from two of the islands’ Typhoon jets as Portland sailed out of harbour with style and panache.


● Practising boarding operations in the chilly Falkland waters and (below) a ceremonial salute as Portland arrives in Valparaiso


“After a great deal of time spent in the company of the joint forces of the Army and RAF during the past four months, it was a fi tting and memorable way to leave the Falkland as the ship proudly carved her way through an unusally crystal-blue sea, made merry by the white horses of a blustering westerly wind as she headed into the South Atlantic,” said Cdr Knott (with a bit


lyrical fl ourish...). Destination Chile and the coun-


of


try’s bicentennial celebrations. Portland, perhaps wisely, chose not to negotiate Cape Horn,


the fi nal weeks before SO FAREWELL to the


but made instead for the calmer waters of the Magellan Strait and Patagonian Canals. As the passage probed deeper into the Strait, the scenery altered dramatically from a barren Patagonian landscape to one of breathtaking natural beauty in the form of snow covered mountains. Navigationally, the canals tested


the bridge teams to the maximum – but will no doubt be one of most rewarding experiences they are likely to encounter. As well as snow-covered peaks,


many of the tiny islands provided the fi rst glimpse of a tree since the departure from Rio four months earlier.


Once the transit was complete the ship emerged into the Pacifi c for the fi nal leg of the 2,000 mile journey to Valparaiso. The ‘road’ to the Chilean port passes over the ‘battlefield’ of one of the greatest shocks to Royal Navy prestige during the 20th Century. The loss


of HM Ships


Monmouth and Good Hope at the Battle of Coronel – and with them Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock and 1,500 men – in November 1914 was the Senior Service’s first defeat in a century. The Admiralty’s response was


swift and bloody. It dispatched a vastly-superior force to hunt down Admiral von Spee. In six weeks the victor became


the vanquished as the German squadron was decimated off the Falkland Islands in December 1914.


A century on and Portland paused over the wreck of HMS Monmouth, where the bodies of more than 600 men are entombed, among them LS Joseph Bennetton, a veteran of the RN and Coastguard with nearly 30 years’ experience at sea. That


experience counted for


nought as the armoured cruiser was outgunned and outfought by the Germans. Every man aboard the Black Duke was lost. LS Bennetton left


● Last chance to meet... (Below) Portlanders pay their fi nal visits to the remo


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