|
For the eleventh of the Sandown minehunters HMS
Blyth it’s
been an interesting start to her career in the Navy.
Her first operational deployment has proven to be a mammoth
eight-month stint away, travelling to the Mediterranean and
the Gulf, where she played an important role in the recent
conflict against Saddam Hussein, clearing mines from the
waterways of the port of Umm Qasr.
Safe access to the Iraqi port along the Khawr Abd Allah (KAA)
waterway was essential for the delivery of humanitarian aid
and other support, and Blyth operated in the region for the
majority of March, successfully disposing of five Manta mines.
The mine countermeasures vessel (MCMV) set off from Portsmouth
in September last year for an initial period in the Mediterranean
as part of Exercise
Argonaut 02, a joint NATO exercise.
From the Mediterranean, Blyth moved on to complete extensive
route survey operations in preparation for the deployment
of the Amphibious Ready Group into the Gulf as tensions built
over Iraq.
Christmas brought a break at the United Arab Emirates port
of Jebel Ali along with sister ships HMS Brocklesby, Bangor
and Sandown and command ship RFA Sir Bedivere.
Staying in the region, Blyth
continued to work and train
with minesweepers from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the US. The
conclusion to this period was
a call to join the MCMVs on station to support operations
in the Northern Arabian Gulf.
It was not just her MCM skills that were called upon in the
Gulf, as she was involved in the rescue of four US sailors
whose force protection boat had got into difficulties in
heavy weather and at night.
This is the second rescue in which HMS Blyth has been involved – in
December 2001 she saved the crew of a sinking merchant vessel
in the Bristol Channel.
Finally back at her Scottish home in Faslane, the ship’s
company are enjoying a well-earned rest and the ship receiving
vital maintenance before she begins training once more to
be primed and ready for her next deployment.
Plans are in place for a visit to her namesake Northumberland
port, an affiliation that has been quickly and firmly established
in the minehunter’s short life.
The name Blyth has only the one precedent. The first was
a Bangor-class minesweeper that was launched on September
2, 1940.
However her completion was delayed due to excessive vibration
and it was not until June 1941 that she entered service with
the 13th Mine Sweeping Flotilla (MSF) under the Plymouth
Command.
Later that year in December she was transferred to the 9th
MSF at Portsmouth.
The problems with vibration continued and meant that she
was declared unsuitable for mine-sweeping duties and so she
spent her days in an air-sea rescue role.
But despite her mechanical problems she won Battle Honours
in a series of live operations.
After the war she was placed in reserve in 1946 before being
sold on in 1948, renamed Radbourne, and starting a short
career as a ferry. She was finally broken up in November
1952.
(Ship of the Month July 2003)
Join Ship of the Month and receive a new postcard sized
photograph every month!
Each month Navy News looks at a different ship, her compliment,
armoury, propulsion and her recent activities. Join the many
subscribers who have been collecting Ship of the Month since
1969. more>
|
