FISHERY protection ship HMS Mersey took a break from prowling the Irish Sea for trawlers to pool her expertise with fire-fighters.

The sailors are semi-experts at fighting fires on ships – and experts at being sailors.

The crews of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service are experts at fighting fires… but bow to the RN when it comes to life at sea.

So 20 civilian firefighters led by Assistant Chief Fire Officer Bill Evans shared their experiences of tackling blazes with Mersey’s crew’s experiences of dealing with fires in the confined surroundings of a warship.

The day of briefings, talks and brainstorming ended with both groups joining forces to sweep through Mersey tackling a (pretend) blaze, searching for – and rescuing – injured sailors in smoke-filled compartments.

“As sailors we’re trained in basic fire-fighting skills,” explained XO Lt Jason Varty. “Our priority is to safeguard the crew and the ship.

“The fire-fighters are experts in their field and do this job every day. We certainly learned a lot from them.”

This was Mersey’s second visit to her affiliated borough in four months and allowed her to host local community groups including affiliated Sea Cadets from TS Ardent, while the sailors were invited by Mayor Richard Hands to Bootle Town Hall.

“We thoroughly enjoyed our stay on Merseyside. The crew had a chance to let their hair down in a region known to be one of the best runs ashore in the Navy after several weeks of intensive operations.”