HMS Tyne met up with her cousin from the French Naval Action Force (ALFAN) Cherbourg the FS Cormoran for exercises in the Dover Straits last week.
Meeting in British waters to the north of Dover the two ships met as FS Cormoran continues her programme of UK port visits. She is more often to be found patrolling the French fishing grounds and the areas surrounding the busy fishing ports of Boulogne and Cherbourg. HMS Tyne has been conducting a routine fishery inspection patrol.
As both vessels rendezvoused a small detachment of personnel were transferred across by seaboat in order to witness manoeuvres from the other platform and gain an insight into how their colleagues operate. FS Cormoran is slightly smaller than and has a crew of just over half that of HMS Tyne.
Sub Lieutenant Aidan Hetherington, who is the Gunnery Officer on board, was one of the team that visited the FS Cormoran.
He said, "The exercise was rewarding, it was a great opportunity to visit our French colleagues who operate as we do but on the other side of the English Channel. They were very accommodating and I hope that we will be able to work with them again soon."
Once the teams had been welcomed on board co-ordinated manoeuvres commenced with both Ship’s operating with 500 yards of one another. These manoeuvres are designed to train the OOW in shiphandling in close proximity to other vessels and train personnel in tactical communications.
While this was going on seaboat training took place with RHIBs from FS Cormoran practicing embarking and disembarking personnel from HMS Tyne.
On completion of the exercise FS Cormoran set a course for Ipswich for her final UK port visit of her patrol, while HMS Tyne heads to Copenhagen for her final foreign port visit before returning to Portsmouth at the end of May.
Lieutenant Commander Hugh Harris, the Commanding Officer of Tyne remarked, "It is always a great opportunity to exercise with and further ties with our nearest neighbours.
"Exercises like this test and prove our ability to work closely with vessels from other nations. I look forward to working with FS Cormoran and the ALFAN Cherbourg more closely in the future’.
HMS Tyne is one of the Royal Navy’s four River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (RCOPV) in the Fishery Protection Squadron which conducts Marine Enforcement Operations to protect the UK Fishing Industry, along with a host of other duties to ensure the UK’s Maritime Security.
The River Class spend up to 300 days per year at sea using a 3 watch manning system to rotate a section of the crew every few weeks.
This means the versatile ships can be called upon at a moments notice to help with operations around the UK, or in the case of HMS Clyde, the Falkland Islands and South Atlantic.
