Naval comings and goings

It looks as if the German replenishment tanker Bonn has finished her GOST (German Operational Sea Training). She went to sea on Thu 12^th Feb and hasn’t been seen since.

HMS Duncan (a Type 45 air defence destroyer) has been around for a week now.  She is the sixth and last of the class and has not yet had her PIP (Propulsion Improvement Packet).  Unfortunately the Type 45s (there were planned to be eight in the class but ‘savings’ in the defence budget removed the last two of the class) were squeezed in cost terms and so, as soon as they were deployed to the Arabian Gulf, it became clear that they needed more electrical power to keep the weapon systems cool, let alone the ship’s company. 

All the class are being fitted with a PIP which will give them three diesel generators, rather than the original two.  This may not sound like a big job, but it is costing £68m per ship and takes several months with other modifications shown to be needed, once the ships were in service.

In this picture (above) from Thursday afternoon, HMS Duncan can be seen beyond the breakwater with the Military Ro-Ro (roll on-roll-off) ship Anvil Point at anchor, and inside the breakwater, HMS Protector, the Ice Patrol Ship departing.

Clockwise from top left: HMS Duncan entering Plymouth on 13th Feb 26. HMS Protector arriving 27 Mar 23, and seen in the sound again this week. And below, Anvil Point arriving on 13^th Feb 26 and departing Devonport on 17^th.  Note her large rear ramp for unloading heavy vehicles, such as the Army’s Main Battle Tanks (weighing about 75 tons when fully loaded for operations).

Unusually, there are no foreign warships training with FOST at the moment.