Royal Navy ties up ahead of seven-nation war games
ABOARD THE ALBION — They’ll spend the next few weeks practicing teamwork and cooperation with the U.S. Navy, but on Thursday, as this Royal Navy amphibious assault ship pulled into Norfolk Naval Station, it was the differences that stood out.
Uniformed sailors wearing shorts and knee socks. Cans of Stella Artois beer cooling in the wardroom fridge. A portrait of Princess Anne on the wall. And for many young crew members eager for a bit of night life, disappointment that they can’t legally drink a pint of ale on American soil: In the United Kingdom, the drinking age is 18 .
About 6,000 Royal Navy and Marine personnel and 18 ships are converging on Norfolk in preparation for one of the largest joint exercises since 1996 .
The biggest British ship – the aircraft carrier Invincible , with a crew of 1,050 – arrives today . The flotilla is expected to sail out on Tuesday , and the two-week amphibious exercise is set to begin June 10 .
Called “Exercise Blinding Storm” by the United States – and less grandly, “Exercise Rapid Alliance” by the U.K. – the training will involve upward of 30,000 troops from seven nations in exercises off and on the coast of North Carolina. Dutch marines and French soldiers will take part, as well as a Peruvian submarine and contingents from Germany and Canada.
The Albion is carrying four Challenger II battle tanks – the British equivalent of the U.S. M1A1 Abrams tank – that will surge ashore aboard the ship’s new landing craft.
Until the landing platform dock ship entered service last year, officers said, the Royal Navy’s amphibious ships had lost the capability of moving tanks from sea to shore. The tanks were too heavy and the landing craft too old.
“It would have been ideal to have this capability last year in Iraq,” said Cmdr. Jim Lines , the ship’s logistics commander .
Commodore Chris Parry , who is heading the seven-ship amphibious task group for the exercise from the Albion, said it’s crucial for allies to practice communicating and exchanging information.
It’s challenging enough getting the Royal Marines and Royal Navy on the same page, Parry said. Multiply that by six other countries, and “if you’re not careful, you shoot down your own guys.”
“At the moment, the U.S. and ourselves are the market leaders in warfare,” Parry said. “If we’re going to get that right 365 days a year, we’ve got to practice.”
Inside the ship’s command platform, a convenience store-sized area full of computers, clocks and screens, the Albion’s battle staff has been communicating with U.S. Navy counterparts for the past week via e-mail and Internet chat rooms.
Though there are still old-fashioned means of communicating, like radios, telegrams and satellite phones, the Albion concentrates on “net-centric warfare,” said Kevin Rowlands, the operations officer.
But as the 578-foot ship pulled into Pier 12 next to the carrier Enterprise, many sailors’ minds were already on something else. During the Cold War, Royal Navy ships made more regular trips to the U.S. for training missions. But for many younger sailors, Lines said, this is their first port call on this side of the Atlantic.
Gunner Mark McIntyre , a 12-year veteran, said his last stay in Norfolk was “pretty hazy” – and he wasn’t referring to the weather. He planned on getting drunk.
“Mixing with the locals is probably the polite way to put it,” he said.
Jo Savage , a Northern Ireland native , isn’t old enough to drink in the U.S. She planned instead to have dinner with fellow female sailors, then head to Virginia Beach.
“I want to do loads of shopping and loads of sunning to top off my non-existent tan,” Savage said.
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