HMS Bangor returns home from Libya mission*

The Faslane-based Sandown Class minehunter was welcomed home by families and friends who braved the bitterly cold winds and heavy rain as she sailed into HM Naval Base Clyde this morning, 25 November 2011.

 

Rear Admiral Chris Hockley, Flag Officer Scotland Northern England & Northern Ireland (FOSNNI) was on hand to congratulate the ship’s company on their latest deployment.

HMS Bangor sailed to the Mediterranean in June in support of the NATO Operation Unified Protector off Libya. Her tasks involved scouring miles of sea bed off the Libya coast as the battle between rebels and Colonel Gaddafi raged.

The painstaking work led to her finding a 2,400-pound (1000kg) mine and a torpedo lying on the seabed off the port of Tobruk in eastern Libya. Both were safely destroyed using the ship’s Sea Fox system – an underwater drone armed with explosive charges.

Lt Cdr Neil Marriott, Commanding Officer, said,

“HMS Bangor’s Ship’s Company has produced some excellent results during the past five months off the coast of Libya and their efforts have significantly aided the safety of Libyan civilians.

 

"They have spent in excess of 120 days at sea, of which 37 were within range of Pro-Gadaffi Forces’ weapons whilst clearing safe routes for merchant traffic and the delivery of Humanitarian Aid, and cleared 2 pieces of ordnance off the coast of Tobruk.”

 

Bangor did not lose a single day’s work to defects or breakdown during the summer, despite sailing hundreds of miles at a time and working round the clock.

Initially bound for duties with NATO in the North Sea, she was retasked to work in the Mediterranean.

Ops Room Supervisor, Petty Officer Steve 'Stirling' Moss, said:

"When we're mine hunting we have several people watching the screens for any contact.

"On the Tobruk task we saw several items which looked about the size of a mine, and two of them turned out to be real.

 "It's not a regular thing to happen, so we're really pleased we found them and we were able to destroy them."

 

After Colonel Gaddafi fell the operational pace dropped, and Bangor was able to complete the final mine hunting task into Sirte.

NATO operations concluded on the 31 October and she commenced her way home. She stopped in Gibraltar off southern Spain last weekend, where sailors could run to the top of the rock ahead of a Remembrance service where a wreath was laid at the territory’s Cenotaph. Lt Cdr Marriott said:

“For many, this was their first operational deployment or time away from family and friends, and they are all deserved of their forthcoming leave following the very successful mission, for which they should be rightly proud.”

 

Commander David Bence, the Commanding Officer of the First Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCM1) at HMNB Clyde, said:

“Today sees Faslane welcome home a Minehunter from active service in the Mediterranean.

"Her contribution to the NATO mission off Libya has been outstanding and has been far in excess of expectations.

"HMS Bangor’s ships company epitomise everything that is great about our men and woman, from their stoic response to her short notice activation to the professional and flexible manner in which they conducted operations; the country, the RN and their families should be proud.”

*Notícia publicada al lloc web oficial de la Royal Navy. 

Navy frigate sent to Libya with four missiles

Royal Navy officers said HMS Westminster was “dangerously under-defended” when it was called on to patrol close to the Libyan port city of Benghazi in March. The warship can carry 32 Seawolf and eight Harpoon missiles but it is understood that military cutbacks left the Westminster and its crew of 190 with only a fraction of that capability. 

As Seawolf missiles — which are used to intercept incoming missiles — are fired in pairs, sources said the Westminster had just two rounds to defend against missile attacks from Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.

In another recent admission, the Royal Navy said it was unable to spare a warship to guard British waters for the whole of October after last year’s defence cuts.

Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a retired officer, said it was unbelievable that the Westminster had so few missiles on board and said ships in the Falklands and the Gulf wars were equipped to full capacity. He added: “This is yet another example of the incoherence of last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review. What if the Government’s bluff had been called? What would the Ministry of Defence be saying if the Westminster had been hit by something? They took a big risk.

“The Government needs to realise there’s only a limited amount you can cut the tail before the teeth fall out.”

Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, who is a naval reservist, said: “I am absolutely convinced, and so are other warfare officers I’ve spoken to, that the Westminster would have been in danger. “We’ve hollowed out the capability to a dangerous level.” 

The Ministry of Defence accepted that the Westminster was short of missiles when it sailed to Libya and that it was not replenished at sea. But a spokesman would not confirm or deny claims that the ship had just four missiles in the war zone. Ursula Brennan, the Permanent Under Secretary at the MoD, said: “The assessment of the risk to HMS Westminster would have taken into account the other capabilities that we had in terms of submarines, aircraft and surveillance and so on. The questions will then have been asked, 'In those circumstances, do we think that is a risk worth taking?’ “That is a judgment our operations people take on a daily basis.” 

* Notícia publicada al Telegraph.