"Small is mighty": Tiny Portsmouth Royal Navy ships impress on huge Nato exercise as they head to Latvia
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
Size is not stopping tiny Royal Navy ships having a major impact on a major exercise.
Four P2000 patrol boats are currently in the midst of a large ten-week operation in the Baltic Sea. HMS Dasher, Express, Puncher, and Pursuer, left HMNB Portsmouth in August for the string of two-month drills.
They were due to join the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which covers the High North, Baltic Sea, and North Atlantic. Despite being the smallest ships in the Royal Navy, they took part in Exercise Northern Coasts alongside 30 Nato warships.
An update on the HMNB Devonport social media account said: “Small is mighty. HMS Express & HMS Pursuer have been in the Baltic Sea delivering surface warfare & mine hunting training with NATO. Alongside HMS Puncher and HMS Dasher, the P2000 patrol boats had personnel from the Mine Threat Exploitation Group embarked to carry out search missions.”
The exercise was led by the German Navy, which combined surface and underwater vessels in a selection of drills - concluding in Copenhagen. Since its inception in 2007, Exercise Northern Coasts has been one of the largest multinational invitation exercises in the Baltic. It creates realistic training opportunities in various scenarios.
Roughly 8,400 military personnel and around 40 units from 14 nations took part, with forces from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.
Rear Admiral Stephan Haisch, Commander Task Force Baltic, said: “We are pursuing the goal of strengthening the cooperation and military capabilities of the navies in the Baltic Sea. In doing so, we consistently rely on realistic threat scenarios from all dimensions: Air, land, water and cyber. This practical training is intended to increase our response and operational capability in the event of a crisis or conflict and also to further develop the leadership capability and cooperation between my staff and the partner navies.”
Standing NATO Mine Countermeasure Group 1 (SNMCMG1) Commander Jānis Auce, at the helm of the Vidar-class coastal minelayer, added: “I am convinced that during these two weeks, the task group has successfully completed an intensive and experience-filled training program. The training covered all important aspects of warfare.
“The exercise was designed so that every participating unit was able to acquire the precise skills and knowledge required to sustain and improve operational readiness. I am confident that after these hard two weeks, we are better and more confident than we were before.”
The P2000s are currently in the Gulf of Riga, conducting maritime serials with the Latvian Navy and coastguard as part of Exercise Eastern Sea. Before this, HMS Dasher and Puncher supported the Riga based warship, LVS Rezekne, as she hosted the presidents of Finland and Latvia on board.