I am sad to say that Endurance’s stay in South Africa has drawn to an end. We have had a very successful 8 weeks in Simon’s Town and a great deal of important engineering work and training has taken place to ensure we are ready for our next work period off the Coast of West Africa.
HMS Endurance with Table Mountain in the background
6 weeks of our time alongside in Simon’s Town was to conduct essential routine work on our machinery. When Royal Navy ships are deployed for long periods of time a number of engineering jobs inevitably start to build up. We therefore gave ourselves a suitable period of time so that all the jobs could get done at once with the skilled help of the South African Dockyard workers. Doing this work in Simon’s Town, South Africa not only meant that we could spend more time working but also that we could save fuel by not having to sail all the way back to the UK. The skilled work that we received from the South Africans was excellent and all the jobs were completed to a high standard on time. Even the unexpected jobs that popped up were completed without fuss. Endurance in now looking shiny with her new coat of Plum Red and White paint and she is ready to continue with her long voyage.
Skilled South African painter preparing part of the ship for painting
Our time alongside has not all been about painting though. Many of the Ship’s Company took the opportunity to see the sights that South Africa has to offer including visiting the famous Cape of Good Hope landmark and going on Safaris.
Anchor the Bear with AB(HM) Roxy West, LS(SR) Kerry Collins and LS(CIS) Jonny Pickbourne visiting the Cape of Good Hope
The opportunity was also taken to play football against the South African Navy on their home dockyard ground. It was a hard fought game with the score remaining 1:1 from very early in the second half; but in the end it was the South African Navy team who showed their stamina in the heat and scored the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game. 2:1 to South Africa which is a good result for them, but more importantly is was a fantastic day where members of both teams, both Navies and both Nations could unite in having fun and making friends which was a good result for everyone.
AB(HM) Taff Hughes taking on two South African players
As our time in South Africa drew to an end the focus of the Ship shifted towards training in order to work ourselves back up to a high operational standard. Experienced Navy Instructors from the UK joined us for two weeks to help us prepare for using our helicopter safely in West Africa which, because of the significant increase in temperature from where we usually operate, will be very new to us. Our normal Lynx Flight 212 have now left and are back in the UK and now 218 Flight has joined. They have a slightly different helicopter which allows them to fly in much hotter temperatures. Can you spot any differences with our new Lynx Helicopter? We are also glad to have back Lt Scott ‘Stimpy’ Simpson as our Flight Commander; some of you may remember him from last year.
218 Flight – Callsign 321 ‘Dusty Bin’ about to launch
With the hard work of the Ship’s Company and the guidance of the Navy Instructors we are now in a very good position to conduct flying operations day or night in quite different conditions from what we are used to.
The training has not all been one way though. We also took the opportunity whilst we were here in South Africa to train with our South African Navy (SAN) friends. A group of surveyors from the South African survey Ship SAS Proteus spent the day with HMS Endurance survey department looking at Royal Navy techniques and equipment and discussing current survey practice. Many of the SAN survey officers are trained at the RN school of Hydrographic Surveying based at HMS Drake in Devonport; this includes the current Commanding Officer of SAS Proteus who passed through the school when our very own Chief Petty Officer (Surveyor) Dave Sharp was one of his instructors.
CPO(SR) Dave Sharp talking to a group of SAN Survey Officers
Our Royal Marine Detachment also spent a week away from the ship with the South African’s ‘Maritime Reaction Squadron’ practising self protection techniques.
Marine Rendell with the SAN Maritime Reaction Squadron
Our final endeavour prior to departing South African waters was to host two seminars; one on Climate Change and one on the Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) which is the part of the sea around a nation’s coast that a country has to look after. These seminars were very important for the environment and I will let you know all about them in my next Blog.
The Sun setting on Endurance’s time in South Africa
So as you can see, it had been a very busy, but enjoyable and productive, time for us in South Africa. We have made lots of new friends, looked after our ship and did training to help us continue with our work. None of this would have been possible if it was not for the kind and skilled work and support of the South African Navy. The next phase of our deployment is exciting as we will be heading up the west coast of Africa to visit Ghana and Sierra Leone; can you find them on an Atlas? This will be very important in building closer links between our countries and it will provide us with the exciting opportunity to work in a different environment with different people from different backgrounds.
I will be sure to write to you all and let you know how it all went next month.