Navy minehunter heads for the Gulf
Royal Navy minehunter HMS Quorn left her Portsmouth home on Sunday for the Middle East where she will spend three years on security patrols.
Royal Navy minehunter HMS Quorn leaves Portsmouth for a three-year deployment to the Middle East [Picture: LA(Phot) Jenny Lodge, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011]
The vessel will be taking over duties from sister ship HMS Chiddingfold which is currently stationed in the Gulf as part of the UK’s commitment to maintain a mine countermeasures presence in the region.
As one of four minehunters based in the Gulf, HMS Quorn will operate for the next three years conducting maritime security operations and training with the UK’s regional partners and coalition nations. Her crew will change approximately every six months.
Quorn’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Phil Dennis, said that following a demanding training programme over the last three months the ship’s 45 crew had been trained to a high standard in all aspects of mine countermeasures and maritime operations.
He added:
Following our successful training under the guidance of the Royal Navy’s Operational Sea Training staff, the crew of HMS Quorn is looking forward to the challenge of deploying to the Middle East and operating in the Gulf.
HMS Quorn will spend six weeks conducting security operations through the Mediterranean, Suez and the Red Sea while en route to the Gulf. Many of the crew are hoping to use the time to acclimatise to the hot temperatures that they can expect when they arrive in theatre.
HMS Quorn is one of eight Hunt Class minehunters which ‘hunt’ for mines with high definition sonar and then destroy them using explosives placed either by mine clearance divers or by the Seafox mine disposal system.
In addition they are equipped with a single 30mm gun, two miniguns and three general purpose machine guns. This equipment enables the Hunt Class to function in a secondary role as potent patrol craft.