Navv AUGUST 1994
40p
EVERY ONE A WINNER. . .
WINNER rim Blogg, a CPO in HMS Fearless, seemed happy enough to be left holding the baby during the ship's visit to Guyana. In a fiveday whirlwind programme of aid, Fearless provided medical treatment and other help to thousands of people in remote villages. (Special feature — page 17). Picture: PCHPHOT; Dizzy de aiva
WINNER Rohan Mitchell, a CPO in HMS Dryad, scooped a record £2,261,401 on the football pools. Rohan, who was presented with his cheque on board HMS Belfast in the Pool of London, is a bachelor and intends to complete his 22 years' service in the Navy. His next posting is Hong Kong where he is due to remain for most of the 18 months he has left in the Service. Said to be stunned and speechless when he heard of the massive win, now he says that his immediate spending plans are to replace his Ford Capri with a Land-Rover.
WINNER Mike Barratt makes friends with Gizmo, a ringtailed lemur at Marwell Zoo. Mike, a WO(M) coming to the end of his 35-year naval career, opted to spend his fourweek vocational training helping the Hampshire zoo out of a knotty problem. An expert in knot-tying, he has been building and refurbishing rope play structures to keep the ZOO'S primates happy.
Picture: CPO(PHOT) Ash Amhwala
Enter a city slicker SHARP and sleek, HMS Manchester combs the Thames Barrier on her way to London for a four-day informal visit during July. Picture: WO(PHOT) Paul Waitings.
IN THE spirit of "Front Line First", the Navy emerged as a clear winner from the Defence Costs Study — and with less pain than expected.
'Plans intact' WAS IT all worth it? "My answer is an unequivocal yes," says First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Benjamin Bathurst. "Front Line First has lived up to its name, and plans for new ships and weapons remain intact — very impressive they are too. "Our core fighting capabilities of carriers, amphibious ships and nuclear-powered submarines are in good shape and destroyer/frigate and mine countermeasures vessel numbers are unchanged. "It is a cause for pride for all of us that in most areas the study teams found the Navy to be extremely lean and efficient. It has been a tough challenge — but the overall outcome is, on balance, in our favour."
Replacements were in sight for the assault ships HMS Fearless and Intrepid as well as new batches of Trafalgar-class submarines and Type 23 frigates, plus orders for seven more Sandown-class, single-role minehunters. Plans to put aside a frigate and a submarine in a state of "extended readiness" having been cancelled and the Ministry of Defence is looking to acquiring submarinelaunched Tomahawk missiles — fired from US warships with devastating effect in the Gulf War. There will be a fresh emphasis on the UK's Joint Rapid Deployment capability — which will offer "exciting further opportunities" for the Royal Marines. As expected, the axe tell on Rosyth — though not as deeply as feared by the trade unions. All the minor war vessels there will • Turn to page 16