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The largest warship in the Royal Navy, HMS Ocean is carrying a mix of support helicopters, Apache attack helicopters and landing craft. These enable her to land Royal Marines, their vehicles and equipment and sustain them as they undertake exercises across the region.
HMS Ocean is leading a second group of ships to join Cougar 11 as part of the Royal Navy’s new Response Force Task Group, MoD has announced.
Vigilance learnt that the 22,500-tonne helicopter carrier left Plymouth on 26 April, to meet up with the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries Wave Knight, FortRosalie and MountsBay.
An MoD source said after a period of work-up training in UK waters, they would head to the Mediterranean where they would join the amphibious assault ship HMS Albion, the Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland and the landing ship RFA Cardigan Bay, all of which sailed from the UK at the beginning of April.
It is said that their long planned deployment which is part of the RFTG will see them transit through the Mediterranean where they will take part in multi-national amphibious exercises before moving further east through the Suez canal for further exercises in the Indian Ocean.
Vigilance also learnt that RFTG will be poised to respond to short notice tasking across a diverse range of defence activities such as non-combatant evacuation operations, disaster relief, humanitarian aid or amphibious operations. However, this deployment is not linked to events in Libya which involve other elements of the UK Armed Forces.
Commodore John Kingwell Royal Navy, Commander UK Task Group, is embarked aboard flagship HMS Albion. He said: “With the sailing of this second group, the Response Force Task Group is at full strength and is ideally suited to respond to the uncertainties and instabilities that currently feature on the international landscape. This Task Group can operate at sea and in the air and we will now commence on a series of exercises to test versatility of this multi-role force”.
The largest warship in the Royal Navy, HMS Ocean is carrying a mix of support helicopters, Apache attack helicopters and landing craft. These enable her to land Royal Marines, their vehicles and equipment and sustain them as they undertake exercises across the region.
With an internal dock for landing craft, a large flight deck, and accommodation for Royal Marines and their equipment, RFAMountsBay – like her sister ship Cardigan Bay – is ideally suited to the kind of operations that RFTG exists to undertake.
RFA Fort Rosalie is a fleet replenishment ship, and will supply the RFTG with a range of stores, spares and equipment – anything from a missile to a Mars Bar.
Finally, RFA Wave Knight is a fast fleet tanker. She is able to provide the other ships with sufficient fuel to remain at sea for prolonged periods, greatly enhancing their ability to respond to unexpected events.
Commodore Bill Walworth, Commodore Royal Fleet Auxiliary, revealed: “Over half the ships in Cougar 11 are from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which highlights our strategic importance to the Royal Navy and our ability to sustain ships and embarked forces for as long as required. With the modern bay Class landing ships, we are very much at the centre of amphibious operations.”