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Thursday, October 30, 2008, 08:00
HMS Ocean officially returned to working duties last week, after a year-long, £35million refit at Devonport.
Many of the improvements relate to the Plymouth-based ship’s duties as a base for amphibious assault. If required, Ocean should be able to disembark 300 Royal Marines by air and another 300 men with vehicles onto landing craft at the same time.
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This week’s operations were on a more modest scale - after a year’s lay off, there are many new crew members and marines to train before reaching a state of high readiness and joining a flotilla of Plymouth ships on an exercise in the Mediterranean in February.
One troop of 30 experienced sea soldiers from 40 Commando were joined by 30 recruits from Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, for a simulated attack on Jennycliff Bay using Ocean’s four landing craft.
The recruits had just spent five days on Dartmoor, and enjoyed 24 hours in the relative luxury of their newly refitted quarters on HMS Ocean before taking to the landing craft to spend another night in the freezing rain.
In the meantime, they practice getting into a Sea King helicopter on the flight deck.
Ocean doesn’t have a helicopter compliment of her own. Instead she can work with just about any kind of helicopter, and can carry up to 22 of them, with their air and support crews.
But working with a lot of aircraft at once requires a very tight ship, so the new sailors are put through their paces with just one, from RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset.
Unlike the smaller ships of the Navy, Ocean is not so much a fighting ship as a vast floating operations base.
Post Cold War, her duties are those of a mobile task force capable of carrying out operations to far flung corners of the Earth.
Commander Matt Clark is in charge of logistics on HMS Ocean, said the refit concentrated on areas like kitchens and accommodation, to enable the British government to keep the pressure on in a delicate situation.
“The longer we can stay at sea with the marines embarked the more useful we are to coerce. I hesitate to use the word threaten, but it gives the government more options,” he said. “If the marines don’t get worn out through the waiting, then that’s better.”
Accommodation for the embarked marines and air crews has been made slightly more spacious, with small recreational areas separate from the spartan triple bunks and lockers, although the area, for 20 men, is still much smaller that most people’s living room.
The kitchens have been extensively improved, and bigger freezers help to extend Ocean’s range.
On the day of the exercise, Chef Gordon McKay, from Plymouth, laid on an option of five different main courses for the 450 or so people on board.
He said: “It’s much better now than it used to be.”
Ventilation and drainage has been improved, there are more fridges and bigger work surfaces.
At full capacity, the kitchen will cater for 1150 people, 24 hours a day.
After being fed, the marines board the landing craft, slung high on the side of the ship, and are lowered down to the sea.
The operation went well, and in four months time the crew of HMS Ocean will be ready to do the same thing with 600 marines, 22 helicopters, and dozens of fighting vehicles and landing craft - under enemy fire, if necessary.
HMS Ocean’s commanding officer, Captain Simon Kings, said: “The ship really comes alive when we have Royal Marines and helicopters embarked.
“Even though it’s just a start, with much more training to come, today’s exercise shows that ocean is back in business.”
Defence Reporter Tristan Nichols was invited down for a behind the scenes tour of HMS Ocean. Posted March 28, 2008.
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