Royal Navy: HMS Spey shoots at targets while on Indo-Pacific op with French carrier Charles de Gaulle

HMS Spey, a Portsmouth affiliated offshore patrol vessel, engaged her weaponry while sailing alongside the French Carrier Strike Group in the Indo-Pacific region. She was invited to join the latest operation Clemenceau 25, being lead by the huge aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle.

Exercise La Pérouse covers three main naval choke points: the straits of Malacca (between Sumatra and Malaysia), Sunda (between Java and Sumatra) and Lombok (between the namesake island and Bali). Other scenarios completed by the ship’s company include emergency fire response and naval manoeuvres.

Commander Paul Caddy, Commanding Officer for HMS Spey, said: “Exercise La Pérouse has been a fantastic training opportunity for Spey. We have made the most of the chance to exercise the operations room and gunnery teams in demanding tactical serials, not something we have many chances to do during our typical constabulary patrols and defence engagement tasking.

“Putting the crew through their paces in response to a major fire while continuing to conduct evasive manoeuvres and simulate engaging low flying aircraft in coordination with partner vessels during an air defence exercise was an excellent test of whole ship reactions.”

The carrier strike group operated in the three straits where roughly more than half of the world’s shipping traffic passes through, which makes securing the area essential for global trade. Joining the French Navy and HMS Spey were the Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa and Indian destroyer INS Mumbai.

A series of day and night drills took place in the Sundra strait, a waterway just 15 miles wide at its narrowest and close to the Krakatoa volcano. HMS Spey pitted her wits against a French frigate - hiding from task group and a maritime patrol aircraft in the Java Sea.

Charles de Gaulle launched her fast jets to simulate aerial attacks on the task group the following night. The Royal Navy vessel had to use all her skills to avoid being strafed by fighter-bombers. Drills also saw a simulated ‘hit’ by the attacking aircraft, which created the simulated major fire incident which the crew had to deal with while in the heat of battle.

Able Seaman Ashley Sandbrook, who was part of the firefighting effort, said: “Whole ship reactions to fire are full-on under normal exercise conditions but it was especially thrilling whilst under simulated aerial attack. It got pretty intense but your training kicks in and everyone pulls together to do what needs to be done.”

To cap off the exercise, HMS Spey fired two gunnery shoot. The first were warning shots from her 30mm Oerlikon across the bow of HMCS Ottawa. This was to simulate forcing an unwilling ship to submit to boarding. Fire was then turned towards targets laid by the French multi-mission frigates.

Initially slated to attack two of the four targets laid, Spey’s second shoot was called off after she destroyed the first target with the opening salvo from her 30mm cannon. Exercise directors feared there would be insufficient targets left for the remaining three ships to practise their gunnery.

Weapon Engineering Technician Lukas Bishop, who had his finger on the trigger, said: “What appears as a second of success is the result of hours in the ops room, and even more time if you account for the training required to qualify as an operator. Hitting the target first time is immensely gratifying, at the head of the column the eyes of our partner navies were on us, and we showed we can perform at the highest standard even when the pressure is on."

HMS Spey working alongside the French Carrier Strike Group provides the ship’s company with excellent preparation for the arrival of HMS Prince of Wales in the Spring of this year. The Royal Navy flagship will be leading the UK Carrier Strike Group in the Indo-Pacific, carrying out a range of drills and diplomatic missions.

CO Caddy added: “Although offshore Patrol Vessels like Spey are not intended to fight on the front line, the enemy will get a say too! So it is important that we maintain our ability to operate the ship in tactically-demanding environments. Our success in these serials is a testament to value of the continuous practise and training we conduct at the unit level, and my highly motivated and professional ship’s company.”