NAVY NEWS, MAY 2010

13

● The decommissioning ceremony of survey ship HMS Roebuck at Devonport Naval Base

FOR a ship whose initial role was to survey the UK’s underwater continental shelf, HMS Roebuck is remarkably

O woe Roebuck

well-travelled.

By the time the White Ensign was lowered for the final time after

almost 24 years of service within the Royal Navy, the survey ship had visited 33 countries on four continents – a little further than her original remit.

She has steamed 431,000 nautical miles and completed 60 hydrographic surveys,

covering

many thousands of miles of the ocean floor. The legacy of Roebuck’s work on these charts resides at the UK Hydrographic Office for use by all seafarers. But of course the

Roebuck,

largest and last survivor of the Bulldog class of coastal survey vessels,

It is the people who serve in her that give a ship her character and HMS Roebuck certainly has that

did

change somewhat over her long life – her original smart white and buff colour scheme of the hydrographic flotilla gave way to battleship grey in 1997.

An entirely appropriate colour as her most recent battle honour was for her work in the Al Faw Peninsula,

charted the area ahead of the main task force’s arrival at Iraq.

where she

● The launch of HMS Roebuck in November 1985 at Lowestoft

role, she has recently taken on the role of flagship and command ship to the Commander Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group 1 (SNMCMG1), acting as mothership to a multinational group of minehunters working

In addition to her survey

of my career to have had the opportunity to command HMS Roebuck and I am extremely proud of my ship’s company and their achievements. “They have remained cheerful and resilient right up to the end

“It has been the highlight has that.

Picture: LA(Phot) James Crawford

around the Baltic, Mediterranean and North Africa. On her final entry into her home port of Devonport on March 18,

commanding officer Lt Cdr Richard Bird said: “This is a sad,

day for the ship’s company.

“During the past 24 years, HMS Roebuck has done some fantastic work worldwide supporting front- line operations.”

He added: “Personally I have served in HMS Roebuck three times and have great affection for her – but a ship is more than a steel hull.

the ship’s

yet proud,

“It is the people who serve in her that give a ship her character and HMS Roebuck certainly

● A sailor hauls down the commissioning pennant of HMS Roebuck

Picture: LA(Phot) James Crawford

and they, like the ship, are a credit to the Royal Navy.” HMS Roebuck decommissioned almost one month later at a service attended by the ship’s company, family, admirals and affiliate guests from TS Roebuck, Didcot Royal British Legion,

Company of Instrument Makers among others.

And Lady Jill Cassels, the ship’s sponsor, attended the ceremony

the Worshipful

as guest of honour, cutting the decommissioning cake; and no doubt remembering the ship’s launch back in November 1985. Lady Cassels’ husband Admiral Cassels was the last commanding officer of the destroyer HMS Roebuck, and with the passing of the survey ship the name Roebuck sits in the history books awaiting reincarnation for the 19th time.

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