HMS Tamar is the currently the newest ship in the Batch 2 Ocean Patrol Vessel fleet, soon to be followed by HMS Spey. She is part of the River Class ships, along with others such as HMS Forth, HMS Trent and HMS Medway. Tamar is the greenest ship in the Royal Navy and has a max speed of 24 knots. It can be the home of up to 140 crew, which is vast for a 90m vessel compared to the Merchant Navy.
When going in and out of ports or completing pilotage, the routine is more structured than what I’ve previously experienced. Every time the ship enters or leaves a port, a meeting is held for the Captain of the ship with details about tides, timings, meteorology, berthing plans, and departmental representatives are present to brief about their roles. The crew then go into ‘Specials’ where all crew are required to wear berets at all times (the normal rig is PCS which is blue shirts, cargo trousers and black boots, berets are to be worn on deck normally, but they are required inside the ship as well during specials), force protection is established, and the condition of the ship is changed.
For these, we had a Wildcat helicopter from RNAS Yeovilton, who would help us perform actions such as land on/take off, rotors running refuel, emergency exercises and personnel transfers by winching. This is all controlled by the bridge, as the crew need to ensure the ship is sailing on the appropriate heading for the helicopter to land safely on with the wind direction and speed. There are also air-lane lookouts, which was one of my roles, where we would track the helicopter giving the officer of the watch a narrative but also ensuring the air-lane was clear from any potential hazards such as birds.
Drills are completed more frequently than Merchant ships, and there are specific time frames tasks should be completed; for example, during a man overboard drill, the rescue boat should have reached and recovered the man within 8 minutes of the man being spotted overboard. I was involved in multiple man overboard drills, fire drills (including casualties), steering gear drills and more.
While I was on board, there was one gunnery exercise which took place at night. The ships bridge wing is rigged with a GPMG and minigun on both the port and starboard. The GPMG can shoot up to 1000 rounds per minute and the miniguns up to 3000 rounds a minute. Every 4th round has a coloured spark to show where the bullets are being fired, in this case, a ‘Killer Tomato’ was placed in the water as a target to hit and sink. Having a cabin right below the minigun meant it was super loud, and sleep had to wait! The ship also has a 30mm DS30B gun on the focsle which can be controlled in the chair attached or remotely using thermal cameras. As well as this, the crew have personal SA80 rifles for protection or guarding, and 9mm Glock handguns are also sometimes used.
I was extremely privileged to be part of the crew sailing up the Thames and docking against HMS Belfast for a week of high-profile defence engagements. During this week, I was involved in hosting and giving ships tours to groups such as government ministers and naval attaches. I was also able to meet and have a conversation with the Deputy Master of Trinity House Captain Ian McNaught, which after spending three months on the THV Galatea, was a pleasure. The ship also had extra equipment and boats on for the week to show what equipment the Navy is using going forward; this included an unmanned autonomous sea boat, Royal Marine offshore raiding craft, quadcopter drones and spyware (just to name a few!). It was an incredible week and it was also a great time to socialise with the crew, as well as getting a bit of time off to go out and about!
Overall, my time onboard HMS Tamar was an incredible experience, and it allowed me to see what life is like the in the Royal Navy compared to the Merchant Navy and how the roles are different. I would recommend if anyone is given to opportunity to take it!
