HMS Cornwall returns from counter-piracy operations

The Type 22 frigate has been the flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) and led the group out of its traditional operating areas in the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, and into the waters off Somalia to conduct counter-piracy operations as part of the NATO operation OCEAN SHIELD.

The ship's deployment resulted in an enviable tally of successes in making the Gulf of Aden safer for seafarers and denying the pirates who operate there the easy pickings they had previously enjoyed.

Not a single merchant vessel was taken by pirates in the Gulf of Aden in the four months of the frigate's presence, whereas six merchant ships were hijacked in the area during the same period in 2008.

HMS Cornwall's Commanding Officer, Commander Johnny Ley, said the success of her recent operations is down to the men and women crewing HMS Cornwall:

"HMS Cornwall is a proud and capable ship and we have worked her hard, in challenging conditions, over an extended period. The ship's company have been absolutely first-rate and they have continued to deliver in spades. It is down to them that we have not missed a single day on task."

"Having achieved our mission it's wonderful to now be getting back to Devonport to see all our friends and families again, in time to spend Christmas with them," he added.

HMS Cornwall sailed from HM Naval Base Devonport in Plymouth in April, and her programme was filled with large-scale naval exercises designed to develop NATO's tactics in submarine-hunting and air defence and some high-profile diplomatic Mediterranean port visits.
 
However, this programme changed due to the threat posed by pirates to shipping off Somalia.

The multi-national NATO Maritime Group ships are used to working co-operatively and are maintained at a high state of readiness to conduct operations at short notice - soon after the group entered the Mediterranean, SNMG2 was ordered further east to deal with the pirate threat.

From Crete, Cornwall's crew undertook a period of intensive mission-specific training while Royal Navy Commodore Steve Chick embarked to take command of SNMG2, with HMS Cornwall as his flagship.

Arriving in the internationally-recognised transit corridor, a 500-mile (800km) stretch of water down the middle of the Gulf between Africa and the Arabian peninsula where merchant ships are afforded protection by the collected naval forces on patrol, it became clear that better co-ordination among the naval forces would improve their effectiveness against piracy.

Cdre Chick and his opposite numbers in the EU, coalition, Chinese and Indian task groups responded, implementing a regime of closer co-operation to significantly reduce duplication and become a more efficient and effective force.

Speaking during a visit to the United States warship USS Donald Cook in September, Cdre Chick explained how several separate factors have been coming together to thwart piracy in the Gulf of Aden:

"Firstly, the merchant community are being much better in terms of implementing self-protection measures. Routinely, now we are seeing merchant vessels transiting the waters having taken protection measures, whether that be fire hoses over the side, barbed wire on the railings or ladders, and other accesses to the ship secured. So that's a good starter for ten.

"At the same time the military have got much better. There are a whole range of organisations and nations out here, all with the same mandate of eradicating piracy.

"By co-operating and co-ordinating our activity much better, I think we're being much more efficient. Routinely, examples are given maybe where a Japanese [ship] has detected a skiff, a NATO helicopter might react to it, and a European Union or a coalition ship then goes and boards it.

"It's the seamless boundaries between the various organisations and nations which are helping us to become that much more effective.

"I think the third thing is something that's probably occurring ashore. Somaliland and Puntland are starting to introduce some form of local governance and starting to police their waters slightly better.

"Piracy is becoming less socially acceptable in some areas within Somalia, and so the populace themselves are taking some action."

But Cdre Chick warned that the pirates would not give up lightly:

"They will probably change their tactics - their modus operandi," he said. "We may see something different, but what we're trying to do is keep one step ahead of them and be ready to counter them."

HMS Cornwall has been away for 226 days. The frigate has steamed 43,453 nautical miles and refuelled, while on the move, at sea 22 times. 

The ship's Lynx helicopter has been airborne for a cumulative total of 214 hours (almost nine days) carrying out 155 separate sorties ranging from tracking pirate camps along the Somali coast to casualty evacuation from nearby merchant ships in need.

During its deployment, Cornwall's crew trained hard to maintain the ship's operational effectiveness. Three Seawolf supersonic anti-aircraft missiles, 246 shells from the main gun, and over 30,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition were fired as part of operational readiness exercises.

Throughout the entire period HMS Cornwall was never once unavailable for operations.

Cdr Ley said:

"This deployment has been a real success for HMS Cornwall and her crew, proving beyond doubt her capability as a first class warship and a superb flagship to the task group."