THE helicopter of HMS Monmouth plucked 11 sailors to safety as their cargo ship foundered in a storm between Crete and Cyprus.

An SOS signal was flashed out by the Afrodite S – and picked up by the Devonport-based frigate, which immediately scrambled her Merlin.

The merchantman, registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, was carrying bulk cement, which shifted in the storm and caused the ship to take on water.

All 11 crew members were airlifted off the ship by Monmouth’s Merlin helicopter in conjunction with a Greek rescue helicopter which then transported the crew to the Greek mainland.
                                               
HMS Monmouth’s Commanding Officer, Commander Tim Peacock, said
“Saving a fellow sailor is one of the fundamental laws of the sea and I am immensely proud of the way my sailors have performed in rendering assistance to the Afrodite S,” said Monmouth’s CO Cdr Tim Peacock.

“Their actions are in the finest traditions of the Royal Navy and demonstrate the diverse roles Monmouth is able to perform.

“It was apparent to all that Afrodite S was in distress, in worsening weather and sea state conditions and we have done all that we possibly can to help.”

The merchantman was still afloat as Monmouth, currently on anti-terror duties in the eastern Mediterranean before heading to the Far East, left the scene, but was expected to sink given the amount of water she had shipped.