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Festival of the Sea
Gary Stedman dons his sealegs. For many years the naval dockyards at both Portsmouth and Plymouth would open their gates to the public over a August bank holiday, their 'Navy Days' open houses being a broadly Royal Navy equivalent to the RAF's old 'at home' shows. Most of the RN ships in port would be open, as well as a few overseas visitors. A Sea Harrier, along with various Fleet Air Arm Helicopters, would usually provide the aviation interest. Our family holidays were usually taken down in Devon/Cornwall years ago and the Plymouth 'Navy Days' were always the highlight. Once nearly cancelled because of the Falklands War, I can still clearly remember the 1982 event. The recently returned ships were understandably closed, many still bearing the scars of a long time spent down south. Of course, they were the lucky ones - five others (and one merchantman) never returned.
The International Festival of the Sea appears to follow
the same format as these earlier shows - it's just that everything is on a much bigger
scale. Triple the international naval representation, throw in twenty-plus tall ships,
blow up the inner basin with a tri-service showpiece, add roving bands, fireworks and a
late night concert to what you would expect to see at a airshow and you should have the
idea. Four-day festival? You need at As the venue is a working naval dockyard, visitors had to be prepared for a fair walk to get round most of the exhibitions. Unlike most airshows it is simply just not possible to head from A to B directly, as you find yourself in a maze of inner basins and dry-docks. Frustrating when the ship, or exhibit you want to visit appears to be so near! Thoughtfully, maps and information booths were at hand to help many confused punters. To visit as many ships as possible, a military style plan of operation is required, as long queues formed to board virtually all the ships very quickly. For obvious reasons, ships' crews are only prepared to allow certain numbers of visitors to board at any one time. A few disgruntled comments have since been heard about the queues to board the more popular ships (HMS Illustrious and the USS Winston S. Churchill in particular). This is nothing new, as just as long a wait could be expected whenever a RN Nuclear fast-attack submarine was open to the public at Plymouth. To be fair, the waiting times shown while queuing to board the Churchill were greatly exaggerated.
Perched on the stern were types from the RAF and AAC that
can also fly from a CVL, the 1 Squadron Harrier GR7 being flanked by a Lynx and Gazelle.
847 NAS operate the Gazelle AH1, alongside Lynx AH7s as the Royal Marine helicopter
squadron. While talking to the Lynx pilot, your dim-witted scribe made the embarrassing
A nice change from all the Navy types was Trinity House's sole helicopter, a Bo-105 on board the THV Patricia. Painted in a smart red/grey scheme, the helicopter is on long term lease from Bond Air Services and is utilised in support of lighthouses. The new Dutch amphibian, Rotterdam surprisingly did not have any helicopters embarked, despite a large flight deck and a rather obvious operational need. Other helicopters present were a Spanish Navy SH-70 Sea Hawk on the Navarra (Perry class FFG), a Lynx Mk 88 on the German Emden (Bremen class FFG) and a CH-124 Sea King on the Canadian Halifax (Halifax class FFG).
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least a week! To try and do it in one day, as I did,
was going to involve some hard choices. Billed as this year's 'taking defence to the
nation' showpiece event, the 2001 Festival of the Sea was the third time the event had
been staged. With its origins at Bristol in 1996, moving to Portsmouth last time out in
1998, the event has now achieved real international status.
error in
assuming he was with 847 NAS, never noticing his Lynx was a 
The most eagerly
anticipated visitor to the festival was the USS Winston S. Churchill, only commissioned
this year and on her first operational cruise. Although only the latest of a large number
of 'Arleigh Burke' class Anti-Air Warfare destroyers, she is only the third to be
completed to the new flight IIA standard, which deletes some of the anti-ship weaponry in
favour of a large, twin helicopter hangar. A single SH-60B Seahawk was embarked, which was
available for inspection on the flightdeck. I did make a valiant attempt to photograph the
Sea Hawk before the crowds descended upon it, but like most of the small ships
helicopters, it was badly positioned for photography. Despite some statements on the
aviation grapevine that the other USN ship present (the 'OH Perry' class "Samuel
Eliot Morison") was carrying SH-60(s), the frigate is no longer aviation capable,
only ever being able to support the now retired SH-2 Seasprite. Following the festival,
the Winston S. Churchill will be making goodwill visits to a number of UK ports, and if
you get the chance, a visit is highly recommended, as the ship's crew appear to be quite
proud of their British connection. You may even avoid a queue!
All of the Royal Navy's Type 42 Destroyers, and a
squadron of Type 23 frigates are homeported at Portsmouth. The majority were in port, and
in most cases open to the public for boarding. Most of these ships did not have Lynx (or
Merlin for the Type 23 frigate) helicopters on board. Although not normally embarked when
at Portsmouth, the Navy's problems with Lynx rotor-heads has severely limited the number
available for small ship operations. HMS Exeter did have a 
Another old favourite, the daily 'Basin Battle'
bash was staged during the sun-drenched afternoon. Although billed as a combined arms
showcase, it's really a excuse for the marines to show off! The scenario involved UK
forces rescuing a UN peace-keeping force (not for the first time!) which is soon forgotten
when the blanks start flying. With Rigid Raiders circling the inner basin, trying to soak
the main stand while waiting their cue, a Nimrod flyby, accompanied by a Tornado and Sea
Harrier opened the proceedings. The friendly held 'island' (poetic license, please!) was
quickly reinforced by abseiling marines, throwing themselves out of a 3 Regiment AAC 
assaulted by pirate hovercraft (complete with 'Jolly Roger'), heavy
reinforcements in the form of Chinook, Merlin and Sea King helicopters arrived forcing the
circling hovercraft back. A tank landing craft (complete with embarked Warrior IFV) and
the defending Royal Marine Rigid Raiders went on the offence, assaulting the enemy held
'island' while the helicopters orbited above. With the island taken, and UN respectability
restored (for the fourth time that weekend), the final act is another RN Sea King, playing
the part of the casualty evacuation helo. Exciting stuff, and good fun to watch.