HMS Richmond has now taken over from HMS Cardiff the former Armilla Patrol warship. The hand-over took place at sea not far from Bahrain.

Now HMS Richmond is fully integrated into the coalition fleet that is on station in the Gulf and, in addition is ready to operate in the Armilla Patrol capacity.

The hand-over between warships lasted most of the morning. Numerous key personnel had useful head-to-head meetings with their opposite number from HMS Cardiff. These meetings took place on both warships.

This meant the morning was a busy one for our “buffer” or Chief Bosun’s Mate, PO Fox, whose boat crews were constantly transferring personnel between the two warships.

HMS Richmond's flight was also involved in transferring materiel between warships, a process that included the use of “Vert-Rep” (vertical replenishment) techniques. Once this process was complete, HMS Richmond briefly went alongside to collect further stores that had been left in the dockyard by HMS Cardiff.

The entire ship’s company busied itself with the process of loading essential and unloading unessential stores during the short stay in Bahrain. This logistical work placed a large burden upon the supply department but the endeavours of all concerned, especially POSA Humbleby and LSA Sharman, with guidance from the Logistic Supply Officer, Lieutenant Commander Bryant, ensured that HMS Richmond sailed having stored and “de-stored” correctly.

Shortly after arriving in Bahrain the ship’s company was addressed by United Kingdom Maritime Commander in Chief, Rear Admiral Snelson, regarding its role in the Arabian Gulf.

In addition to all these other activities the ship’s diving team conducted a routine inspection of the hull and jetty. In view of the time of arrival in Bahrain, the Diving Officer, Lieutenant Brown, instructed LPTI Gorton and OMC Barnes to perform this inspection as a “night-dive” that lasted forty minutes.

This was our first “night-dive” of the deployment and was successfully performed, demonstrating our ability to perform localised underwater searches in darkness.