NAVY NEWS, MAY 2010

33

HMS DARING can hit an object the size of a cricket ball travelling at Mach 3 from miles away – and can produce a mean line in embroidery. The latest addition to the Fleet picked up on the buzz about corporate appearance and has her own sewing machine which, using a laptop and appropriate software, can turn out professional results. The ball was set rolling by Lt Rob Cogan in HMS Kent back in 2001, when the officer approached Hampshire Sewing Machines for advice on a machine compact and robust enough for a life at sea, embroidering name badges and other designs. The frigate’s CO at the time,

Needles investment on Daring

Cdr John Clink, did not forget, and when he took command of aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal as Capt Clink he decided to follow suit, having two machines installed while the ship was in refit last year. Now one of the most advanced

warships in the world is similarly equipped with a piece of kit invented more than 200 years ago.

Ashes scattered

THE ashes of a retired

communications officer have been scattered from his former ship, HMS Belfast, in London. Lt Cdr Len Borley, who died at the age of 91, was instrumental in the design of magnetic loop aerials for direction finding. He was a member of the RNR and served in the Royal Navy during World War 2 – including tours of duty as communications officer in HMS Belfast. Len was a member of the RN

Amateur Radio Society, regularly going on air from his home in Gosport using call sign G4LIK. He was also a naval historian, amassing a large library of material over the years.

FROM little acorns... Service family accommodation

Garden provides inspiration

comes in a range of different shapes and sizes, as do the gardens that come with them.

great deal to the garden because a) they will not be in the house for long, and b) Defence Estates may well request it is returned to its original state when they leave. But one resident on the

Most inhabitants do not do a

Gatcombe Park patch in Portsmouth was not deterred, and has now based a business around the garden.

Kells’ husband joined the RN as a chaplain, and the two of them moved into Gatcombe Park with their young son. The garden was just uneven

ground covered in rough grass. Mary had been working on a

l A Sea King from 848 Naval Air Squadron, working with Royal Marines from CTCRM Lympstone, carries gorse bales on to a remote part of the East Devon lowland heaths to help protect them from erosion

Gorse for good

ROYAL Marines from Lympstone and a helicopter from 848 Naval Air Squadron have teamed up to help protect a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the West Country.

The East Devon Pebblebed

Heaths contain important areas of bogland which suffered serious erosion over the prolonged icy, wet winter.

These bogs are home to rare flora

and fauna, including insectivorous plants like butterwort and sundew,

which support equally rare wildlife and can only be found on the few remaining lowland heaths in Britain. The heaths take their name from thick layers of rounded quartzite pebbles embedded in sand, deposited during the Triassic Age, more than 200 million years ago, when a large river flowed through what was then a desert. Among the wildlife found are

into rivers and the plants simply get washed away.

“Without the plants the wildlife cannot survive.” The Pebblebed Heath

Conservation Trust needed to distribute 100 bales of gorse to three locations on the heath – which is where the Senior Service came in.

the Dartford warbler – classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as ‘near threatened’ – nightjars and the damsel fly. Commons warden Bungy Williams said: “The bogs hold hundreds of thousands of gallons of water

caused the peat to become badly eroded.

“This means that the bogs turn and this weather has

first time we have ever done an operation of this scale.” The unique characteristics of the heaths, owned by Clinton Devon Estates,

supported by Royals from the Commando Training Centre RM, was brought in to carry the bales as underslung loads. Bungy said: “We have harvested

the gorse from the heaths and put it into bales, and the Royal Marines helped us to move it to some of these hard-to-reach areas. “We have used gorse in the past to help repair the bogs and it has worked successfully, but this is the

First from academy

IN 2008 the Royal Navy launched a new academy allowing students to learn how to fly while achieving a Military

l Brig Mark Noble listens as Morgan explains his plan for Ilchester School

Picture: LA(Phot) David Bunting

Pupils plan for a military takeover

PLANS have been prepared at a Somerset school for a military takeover.

at Ilchester School, Lt Cdr Paul D’Arcy, is an instructor with 702 Naval Air Squadron at nearby Yeovilton air station. And Paul helped orchestrate a discussion on the school “being taken over by the military” to provide a base for up to 400 Service personnel – but only in theory, as part of the school’s World War 2 studies.

WISE decision

SIXTEEN girls from schools across the south-east of England visited the Maritime Warfare School at HMS Collingwood as part of the WISE (Women In Science and Engineering) initiative. The Navy works alongside the WISE project to run residential weeks allowing schoolgirls to experience hands-on engineering.

The chairman of governors

Pupils from Years 3 and 4 were asked to design the features that might be needed in such a scenario, which could be worked in to the school’s existing structure. Their plans included a

mortuary, chapel, power station and ‘chill-out’ rooms. Some 90 plans were drawn up, of which 15 were put forward for Brig Mark Noble RM, CO of RNAS Yeovilton, to look over. The brigadier chose his top

three, submitted by Morgan (Year 3) and William and Zoe (Year 4). Brig Noble said: “All the plans

were very well thought out and the pupils had obviously listened to their teachers. “I am fascinated by the amount of detail that they used and pleased that they have obviously learnt so much.”

War 2 topic included a mock school evacuation, building an Anderson shelter and ‘digging for victory’ by planting vegetables for soup.

foundation degree. The first officers to achieve the qualification were presented with their degrees by Maj Gen Porter, Chief of Staff Joint Warfare, during a wings parade at RN Air Station Culdrose, home of the Fleet Air Arm Military Aviation Academy. The three officers were Lts

Jonathan Maumy, Martin Young and George Ridley. The academy is designed for students with

them the chance to learn the A-levels, giving Aviation Studies

fundamental skills needed to fly combat aircraft, and the degree – validated by the Open University – gives students the option of ‘topping up’ to gain a BSc qualification while serving with a front-line squadron at sea. Budding pilots and observers gain the skills and knowledge needed to become fully-trained Aviation Warfare Officers, using simulation and computer-based training before flying real aircraft. Potential officers begin their training at Dartmouth, and after three terms of flying grading and training they enter the academy at Culdrose or Yeovilton.

Merlin milestone

ONE of the Navy’s most experienced pilots has passed another milestone in his career. Lt Cdr Mike Pamphilon, of 824

and Sirius. Mike converted to Merlin in

Naval Air Squadron, is the first military pilot to achieve a total of 2,000 flying hours on the Merlin Mk1 helicopter.

Mike joined the Senior Service in 1974, and on completion of training at Dartmouth he served in HMS Tenacity and RFA Black Rover before starting flying training in 1979. He learned the basics of flying with 705 NAS at Culdrose, then moved on to Sea Kings with 814 and 820 NAS, seeing active service in the Falklands Conflict. After qualifying as a flying

Other activities under the World

instructor on 706 NAS, Lt Cdr Pamphilon served at sea as a principal warfare officer in HMS Cardiff before returning to aviation, flying the Lynx helicopter as flight commander in HM ships Argonaut, Brilliant

2000, since when he has occupied a pivotal role with the helicopter, advising the US on Merlin operations in the Iraq war, and last year leading the 30-strong Culdrose ‘Balbo’ aircraft formation at various UK air displays.

Angie retires

ONE of the longest-serving civilian employees at Culdrose has retired to become a full-time grandparent. Angie

Williams, who first

started at the Cornish air station in 1984, recently won Sodexo Defence employee of the month awards for the air station and the South of England region. She worked on the Merlin

simulator, and hinted that she would be happy to return to lend a hand should the need arise.

A Sea King helicopter,

continually managed to stop trees from re-establishing themselves and preventing gorses and bracken from taking over. Equally important is keeping

have to be

the wetland areas open. Traditional activities such as turf cutting, grazing of animals and cutting bracken for bedding and trees for fuel all helped shape the heaths as they are today. But Royal Marines also form

part of the overall picture – military training exercises were run on the heathlands during World War 2, and the land is currently used by the MOD to teach commando skills to trainee Royal Marines.

Picture: Guy Newman (KOR Communications)

In December 2007 Mary

course in garden design at Capel Manor College in Enfield before moving to Portsmouth. She put her newly-learned skills into practice by designing and building a show garden at the married quarters,

a woodland area, gravel garden, adventure play area, two eating areas, a hull-shaped sandpit and herb and vegetable beds. With the permission of the Captain of the Base, Mary now runs her own business there. But what will happen to the garden when Mary’s husband moves to a new posting? “We have to put it all back, just

as it was before,” said Mary. “Unless, of course, someone – quickly enough and loudly enough – says: ‘Hey, don’t do that; we like it just the way it is...’”

Torbay school link

PUPILS from a Torbay school have paid a visit to the submarine of the same name. The youngsters from Mayfield School were shown around HMS Torbay, meeting the crew as well as CO Cdr Edward Ahlgren. There is already a strong link

between school and boat, with pupils learning about the RN and sailors raising funds for Mayfield.

creating

l From left: CPO John Simmons with wife Anita and Evie Grace; Graeme Stevenson with Sheona and Ruairidh Alexander; and Cdr Paul Haycock with Helen and Sofie Josephine

Singapore offspring

THE UK military staff team in Singapore might be small, but it is expanding fast.

of 70 per cent. But things have been getting a

personnel, four of them in Naval Party 1022 under the command of Cdr Paul Haycock and three from their civilian counterparts at Defence Fuel Groups (DFG). Together they are responsible for the Navy’s commitment to the Five Powers Defence Arrangement in South East Asia, as well as managing the day-to- day operation of the Sembawang Naval Wharves and the Senoko Oil Fuelling Depot. This year has been the busiest for some time, with more than 120 ship visits and a wharf occupancy

The team counts just seven UK

lot busier on the domestic front as well, with three of the seven welcoming new additions to their families within a four-week spell. CPO John Simmons and his

wife Anita had a daughter, Evie Grace, Graeme Stevenson (DFG) and his wife Sheona had a son, Ruairidh Alexander, and Cdr Paul Haycock and his wife Helen had daughter, Sofie Josephine. And despite the fact that the three dads have had to get used to clutching a baby’s bottle rather than a Tiger beer or Singapore Sling when off duty, all are said to be delighted with the new members of their select group. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48