| Since her commissioning ceremony
in North Shields last year, Tyne has had an extremely busy
12 months – and is now heading for a whole lot more
activity.
Out of around 220 days at sea, her company spent around 170
days on fishery protection patrol.
During that time, the ship has carried out 441 boardings,
seven of which have led to arrests and detentions back into
port for alleged infringements of European Union fishery legislation.
Naturally, it is not all about numbers, says her captain,
Lt Cdr Mike Utley, and Tyne (sixth in her line) has spent
a good portion of her time in the south west approaches in
atrocious weather, acting as a deterrent.
Built by Vosper Thorneycroft (UK) Ltd in Southampton under
a five-year agrement, the ship is the first of the new River
Class Offshore Patrol Vessels. Two-man teams conduct boardings
of fishing vessels, inspecting net sizes, weight of catches,
fish sizes, composure of catches and the vessel’s logbook
and licence.
One of the major innovations is a working cargo deck which
allows Tyne to be equipped with specific facilities for a
particular role, such as disaster relief, anti-pollution,
firefighting and rescue work. A heavy crane with capacity
for 25 tonnes is fitted to handle standard containers.
This working deck is also large enough to permit the smaller
craft such as oil spill recovery tractors, a landing craft
for transhipment of cargo inland by river and a variety of
wheeled and tracked light vehicles.
In addition to her fishery protection duties, the ship has
enjoyed several visits to ports around the UK and Eire.
Most notable have been the Grimsby and Newlyn Fish Festivals,
Dartmouth (as the first regatta guardship for four years),
and Galway.
Other memorable destinations have been Galway, representing
the first visit by a major RN unit for 25 years, Antwerp and
Brixham – as guardship for the trawler race.
Earlier this year, in company with her sister ship, HMS Severn,
Tyne undertook a week of staff covered weapon training around
the south coast of the UK and then passage for a long weekend
to Bayonne in the south west of France.
Training covered all aspects of the ship’s capabilities
and included drills and firings of the 20mm cannon and general
purpose machine guns, as well as various fire and emergency
exercises.
A few weeks later, anchored off Plymouth Sound, Tyne had the
honour of acting as the official start ship for the 2004 Transatlantic
yacht race. Guests aboard included round-the-world yachtswoman
Ellen MacArthur and tennis player Anna Kournakova (who fired
the flare), as well as Flag Officer Sea Training Rear Admiral
Roger Ainsley.
Another milestone in the River Class will be reached in October
when Tyne undertakes operational sea training – first
class to go through for the first time after a busy operational
18-month period.
Once Tyne has survived her testing times, she will be circling
the coasts of the country on her patrol duties for the next
few months, before a well-earned pre-Christmas jaunt to Dunkirk.
The current Tyne is the sixth Naval vessel to bear the name,
which first appeared in 1814 on a 28-gun 6th rate that served
for 11 years. The second Tyne of 1826 was of similar size,
but won the name’s first battle honour in 1854 for service
in the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War.
The name next appeared on an 1845 frigate, HMS Active, renamed
in 1867 to serve as a training ship. Tyne also took over the
identity of the Mariotis in 1878, a merchant ship purchased
for use as a troopship and store carrier.
The penultimate HMS Tyne of 1940 was a destroyer depot ship.
She spent the majority of World War II as the flagship of
Rear Admiral (Destroyers), Home Fleet. After a long career
she was placed on the disposal list in 1964, and eventually
sold for scrap in 1972.
(Ship of the Month August 2004)
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