THE Arabian Gulf is becoming awash with ships flying the White Ensign with the fifth ship bound for the region in the shape of HMS Cornwall.

The Type 22 frigate left the cold of Devonport behind on a late January morning and headed east to contribute to efforts to stabilise Iraq, chiefly by guarding her oil platforms against terrorist attack.

That task is currently performed by HMS Sutherland, although her presence in the Gulf has been bolstered by the arrival of Task Force Aintree – minehunters HMS Blyth and Ramsey – and by Cornwall’s sister Campbeltown, which has joined the Allied anti-terror group CTF 150.

Blyth and Ramsey’s mission is more general, adding to the overall security of the Gulf region, perfecting minehunting in the most challenging of conditions, and fostering closer relations with local navies.

After their lengthy (and sluggish with a top speed of 13kts) journey to the Middle East, the duo conducted some maintenance in Bahrain then readied themselves for the first patrol at the beginning of their three-year deployment with a week of ‘shakedown’ designed to blow away the cobwebs accumulated after a few weeks alongside.

The chief aim of the minehunters’ time in the Gulf is to perfect the art of finding mines and underwater explosives in such difficult waters (sand and the warm temperature of the ocean conspire against the ships and their sophisticated kit). Saddam Hussein attempted to thwart the 2003 invasion of Iraq by sowing minefields in his waterways; they were swept away by the Royal Navy.

Also Gulf-bound is the newly-formed 857 Naval Air Squadron (formerly 849 NAS B Flight) and its ‘spy in the sky’ Sea Kings.

The ‘baggers’ – the radar in a ‘sack’ lowered from the helicopter’s fuselage gives the aircraft their nickname – have deployed to the Middle East.

The squadron is using RFA Fort Victoria as its airfield, operating from the Gulfs of Oman and Aden to the Horn of Africa on anti-terror and anti-piracy sweeps.

Although the Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) variant of the Sea King was designed for identifying aerial threats to a naval task force, the radar proved particularly potent during the 2003 Iraq campaign tracking enemy ground targets.