F A M I L I E S
&
F R I E N D S
N E W S L E T T E R
A U G U S T
1 1
Can’t get enough of a good thing.
INSIDE
ISSUE 16:
Can’t get
enough of a
good thing.
1
Joint Service
Surgical Team.
2
OCEAN adds
another string
to her bow.
3
Independence
Play.
4
Fill her up
please.
5
OCEAN
retains the
Montague Cup.
5
Featured Dept:
Marine
Engineering .
6
Mini Mariners.
7
With OCEAN’s commitment to Op ELLAMY extended over the summer months, what better time to
produce the next edition of the Ocean Wave Newsletter to offer the friends and families of OCEAN’s
crew and Tailored Air Group a little insight into what we have been up to over the last 2 months.
Quite obviously we cannot talk about specific operations, but even in this operational environment
OCEAN has not just been launching Apaches, she has been completing a whole host of other
activities.
For a vessel of this size to continue to perform at peak efficiency there are a number of essential
serials that need to be carried out periodically and inside Issue 16 you will see evidence of OCEAN
and her TAG making sure that they are ready in all respects to do whatever is asked of them. With
significant interest from World press on the continuing events in Libya and more specifically on
OCEAN, her TAG and what they are achieving, it is vitally important that OCEAN continues to
portray the positive message that the Royal Navy is still the best trained and most capable maritime
fighting force in the world.
Editor
Lt Cdr Simon Lippitt
Contributors
Cdr Jon Asbridge
S/Lt Tom Thicknesse
POMA Mark Beswick
Photographs
LA(Phot) Guy Pool
HMS BANGOR
The Commander of the United Kingdom Task Group, Commodore Kingwell flies his flag over HMS
OCEAN; does that make us the Flagship, or what about The Fleet Air Arm Flagship?
Issue 16 – August 11
1
Joint Service Surgical Team.
Note—photos are
of ‘simulated’
casualties only.
Issue 16 – August 11
Each time the Apache attack
helicopters launch from HMS
Ocean to conduct missions over
Libya, they do so safe in the
knowledge that behind the scenes
there is a highly qualified surgical
team at the ready in the event of
an emergency. Embarked within
HMS Ocean, the Royal Navy’s
largest warship, is a surgical team
drawn from across all parts of the
UK. Mainly comprising Royal Navy
doctors and nurses, there are also
personnel from the Army and RAF
making this a unique Joint Service
organisation
afloat.
Although
primarily there to provide surgical
support in the event of an incident
involving the Apache helicopters,
the team could also be called upon
to provide assistance to any of the
NATO ships, submarines or
aircraft engaged in enforcing the
United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1973. Day-to-day the
Servicemen and women of HMS
Ocean’s surgical team work within
the six hospitals spread around the
country that have military units
attached to them, where the bulk
of their work is involved in treating
civilian NHS patients. However,
whilst fully integrated into these
hospitals
they
also
keep
themselves up to date with military
training and advances in medical
practice. Flexibility is key, though,
as when the call goes out they
need to be prepared to drop
everything and deploy abroad,
sometimes to environments in
which they are not familiar. For
Major Mike Berski, an Army
Theatre Nurse from Frimley Park
Hospital, this is a welcome break
from
the
sandstorms
of
Afghanistan where he, like many
others of the team, have spent
several tours. “In Camp Bastion,
the dust gets everywhere despite all the precautions
that we take. Here on ship there is no dust and the
Operating Theatre and all our equipment is spotlessly
clean,” he said. One factor though that has not
changed from Afghanistan is the heat; Libya is on the
edge of the Sahara and despite being at sea the
compartments on ship still get hot and humid. The
team provides expertise in the important areas of
trauma resuscitation that need to be started within two
hours of an incident taking place and so Royal Navy
Consultants in Emergency Medicine, Surgery and
Anaesthetics lead the team. For Surgeon Commander
Shane McCabe, a Consultant Anaesthetist from
Bournemouth Hospital, this will be his last deployment
before leaving the Navy. After 19 years in the Service
and deployments all around the world he has decided
to concentrate his professional efforts closer to his
young family at home, and hopes to set up a restaurant
with his wife. “When the call came for this I was about
to start a sommelier’s course, but now I am here. One
thing I have learnt through my naval career is the need
to keep flexible,” he said. Surgeon Commander Peter
Taylor, the Officer Commanding the Surgical Team and
a Vascular Surgeon from Peterborough, is pleased with
how the deployment is going. He said: “In the last two
years, a lot of the medical lessons learnt from
Afghanistan have informed developments in how
surgical resuscitation for trauma has been delivered on
board ships. We now have a mobile digital x-ray
machine on board which has proven so helpful during
deployments on land in Afghanistan. So, if we did
need to patch anyone up here, they can be confident
that they will receive the very highest standards of
care”.
2
OCEAN adds another string to her bow.
The Pavehawk takes to the skies.
As our deployment continues there has been a change to the Air Group construct. On entry
into the Joint Operating Theatre (JOA), OCEAN’s TAG consisted of Apache, Lynx and Sea
King. However, that has now been refined and OCEAN now carries an additional aircraft
type, the American HH60 “Pavehawk”. Each aircraft type has a role to play, you are all
aware of the role that the RN / AAC aircraft play, but the Pavehawk will be a new one to
most.
Essentially the Pavehawks and her American crew fly Combat Search & Rescue missions—
CSAR. The crew of the HH60 are ‘Guardians’ of the sky, these men and women of the
United States Air Force are on permanent alert to recover any downed aircrew within their
sphere of influence. The Pavehawks are prepared to recover aircrew over land or at sea and
have the tools to look after themselves in hostile airspace.
The crew consists of pilots, door gunners and para-rescuers—the door gunners will suppress
enemy fire and the rescuers are the insane lot that throw themselves out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft to secure and recover the downed aircrew. Alongside the flyers the HH60
Squadron have brought engineers, maintainers and specialist communications personnel to
ensure that they have all the additional support required to do their job. A highly trained and
hugely valuable addition to OCEAN, her Air Group and Op UNIFIED PROTECTOR.
Recovering a ‘casualty’ from the deck (no real
casualty available, therefore willing volunteer
used).
Issue 16 – August 11
The 50 cal, a potent and highly effective
method of keeping the bad guy’s head down.
3
Independence Play.
Fireworks and ticker-tape
parades might be traditional,
but
OCEAN
celebrated
Independence Day in true
naval fashion… with a UK vs.
US bucketball competition on
the Flight Deck. As the ship is
currently playing host to the
“Jolly Green Giants”, a
combat search and rescue
squadron from the United
States Air Force, it was only
appropriate to celebrate their
national holiday with what
seemed to be a certain British
victory. Teams from across
the ship, the Air Group and
the USAF detachment met
under clear skies during a
brief lull in operations, and
played out a hard fought battle
for international supremacy.
As players wearied and balls
soared over the end of the
flight deck, never to be seen
again, the teams fell by the
wayside,
leaving
only
OCEAN’s home grown all
stars (combined age: 237
years – 2 years older than the
USA itself ) to play a team of
towering American basketball
players in the final. OCEAN’s
finest strutted out with a spring
in their step – after all,
bucketball is the RN’s own
invention – how could we
possibly lose?
More like how could we be so
cocky? Basketball is, after all,
America’s national sport, and
it proved to be more than
adequate preparation for the
rigours of bucketball. The
USAF team triumphed in a
repeat
of
the
original
Independence Day (1776, not
the film), and went on to
celebrate with a specially
planned evening meal of fried
chicken and apple pie.
Issue 16 – August 11
4
Fill her up please.
consuming transit to
another supplier,
BANGOR was offered
fuel and supplies from
her biggest sister.
HMS OCEAN, the Royal
Navy’s largest warship,
demonstrated her exceptional
flexibility and big heart, by
providing HMS BANGOR with
a much needed replenishment
at sea (RAS) for fuel and other
victuals. While continuing to
launch Apache Strike missions
against the Pro Gaddafi
Forces in support of United
Nations Security Council
Resolution 1973, HMS
OCEAN found the time to
lend a helping hand to one of
the Royal Navy's Mine
Clearance Vessels. With
enduring operations HMS
BANGOR required a refuel
and to prevent a time
The Sandown Class
Minehunter came along
starboard side and was
rafted to HMS OCEAN,
where the well versed
and hugely experienced
RAS team used the
refuelling points for
OCEAN’s LCVPs to
transfer a suck of gas to
a thirsty BANGOR.
With the fuel transfer in
progress, BANGOR’s
crew also took the
opportunity to take on
fresh produce and other
essential stores. With
both vessels tied up the
mine clearance divers
of HMS BANGOR took
the opportunity to get in
the water to take a look
at OCEAN’s underside,
checking her hull for
any foreign objects and
to see if anything had
become entangled
along the propeller
shafts. To Captain
Betton’s relief, the
Mighty O’s hull and
propellers were given a
clean bill of health.
OCEAN retains the Montague Cup.
For the third year running OCEAN clinched the Montague Cup. The challenge; to achieve
the fastest time for 50 personnel to row 1000 m each. Sounds easy? Try it.
The location was OCEAN’s Quarterdeck, the participants– anyone daft enough to want to
have a go. The challenge was open to male and female challengers and there was a great
deal of effort and sweat spilled onto the Quarterdeck as soldiers, sailors and marines
pushed themselves to the limit to achieve the fastest individual time and to accrue the best
overall time. In the male section POSE Gibbs was the winner, yet again breaking the 3 minute barrier by achieving 2 mins 59 secs. The female section was won by OC Charlie Richardson with an excellent sub 4 minute time. As to the overall winning team effort—HMS
OCEAN achieved 50000 metres in 2 hrs 48 mins 5.4 secs.
Excellent effort, and well done to all involved.
Issue 16 – August 11
5
Featured department: Marine Engineering Department.
One Of The Ship’s Huge Main Gearboxes
Marine
Engineering
personnel are an essential
factor in delivering the ship’s
Operational Capability. HMS
OCEAN’s
equipment
is
useless without the trained
and well motivated people
who operate and maintain it.
Marine Engineering Officers
are professionally accredited
technical
specialists
in
marine,
mechanical
and
electrical engineering. Senior
Engineering Technicians are
highly skilled and trained
craftsmen and diagnosticians,
whilst the backbone of the
department
is
the
Engineering Technicians; the
equipment operators and
maintainers and the Ship’s
Fire Fighting specialists.
OCEAN can deliver her
capability worldwide and is
propelled by two 9000HP
diesel engines which drive
5m
diameter
propellers.
With a ship of this size we do
not talk about Miles Per
Gallon - instead we
refer to Gallons Per
Mile. With the ship
consuming
25
gallons of diesel per
mile, we can travel
8000 miles at 16kts
before having to be
refuelled.
Beyond
propulsion
the department also
maintains the Ship’s hotel
services.
The Ship
Support Systems include
8MW
of
electrical
generation, the galley,
laundry, air conditioning
and lighting facilities, fresh
water (produced at 320
tonnes per day) and
sewage treatment plants
that process 300kg of solid
waste per day.
Ship’s
services personnel also
maintain the Ship’s hull,
structure and material
state.
HMS
OCEAN’s
Amphibious
Capability
could not be
maintained
without Assault
Systems
engineering
support. These
personnel
ensure
the
serviceability of
the 4 Landing
Craft,
Aircraft
Lifts, Stern and
Side Ramps and
the Ship’s Crane.
Conducting switchboard drills
Next Edition:
Medical Department
Operational Stand Down
HMS OCEAN enters Valetta harbor (Malta) to take on essential supplies in order to continue high
tempo operations and maintain the pressure on the Pro Gaddafi Forces.
Issue 16 – August 11
6
As promised Mini Mariners has returned and so for all you MMs here’s a
Crossword.
How To Tie Knots - Reef Knot (Also Known As The Square Knot)
This knot has been used for centuries by sailors for reefing sails and tying things aboard ship. It is important that
it should not be used for tying two ropes together as is can easily come loose.
1.
Tie two over hand knots.
First, right over left and
twist. Then left over right
and twist.
2. Make sure both parts of
the rope exit the knot
together, then tighten.
Issue 16 – August 11
7