Page 20 - A4 Journal 2022

Our Military Affiliations

We are very proud of our military affiliations. Whilst there was not an issue of the Journal last year, military
life has gone on unabated and our military affiliates have been as busy as ever, so this issue of the Journal
includes reports on their activities over two years.
HMS Lancaster (The King’s Frigate) is an important part of the regular Royal Navy, whereas the other two
military affiliates are Reserve Units, mainly staffed by civilian volunteers. We are also proud to be affiliated
with the South West London Army Cadet Force.
HMS LANCASTER

HMS Lancaster (now the King’s Frigate) has finished her refit and, since August, has been
deployed on active service alongside its NATO counterparts across a vast area ranging from the
Eastern Mediterranean to the Irish Sea. The ship now has two crews - the “Port Crew” and the
“Starboard Crew”. This allows it to remain deployed away from the UK for the next 3 years whilst
the two crews conduct a total swap every 4 months. The CO of the “Starboard Crew” had the
honour of returning from operations to represent HMS Lancaster at the State Funeral of Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and thereafter marched ahead of the coffin with the UK’s Service Chiefs in the
procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch. The various departments within the Ship have also
been busy. The Weapons Engineering Department started by delivering a complex maintenance package
and then trialling all the Ship’s new equipment at sea before on-loading all
the ammunition and missiles to make sure that the Ship was materially ready
to undertake operational duties. This included controlling and tasking any
allied nation’s un-crewed systems from the Ship. HMS Lancaster then
transited eastwards through the Mediterranean, taking part in exercises with
the Italian Navy. Lastly, and by no means least, HMS Lancaster formally
marked the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II by firing a 96 gun royal death
salute whilst the Ship was alongside in Setubal, Portugal.
Even before leaving Portsmouth, the Logistics Department was incredibly busy making
sure the Ship was well stocked and ready to deploy on operations for more than 3 years.
As the deployment continued to track east the challenges only got harder - Logistic
supply chains and lead times for items grow longer. Movement of stores was a major
issue for items such as medical supplies and ammunition, and the logistic challenges
presented by swapping two crews on a four monthly basis needs major planning from all
- the plans for the crew swap in December are in place and plans for the next crew swap
at Easter 2023 are well advanced.

The Executive Department has been hard at work too. They arranged a ‘Families Day’ on board
the Ship prior to its deployment, to which the Master was invited. The 250 invitees enjoyed a
ship’s tour, breakfast and lunch in in the marquee along with the first sight of the Gruffalo, which
eventually became the ship’s mascot, and was later named “Queenie”.
Whilst the Ship was alongside in Gibraltar some of the crew ran up and down the Gibraltar Rock,
following that with 1,000 Burpees. (For the uninitiated that is a thousand special squat press-ups
and is an exercise invented in 1939 by US physiologist Royal Huddlestone Burpee Snr.) It is used
as a measure of fitness by US forces and, needless to say, is very challenging.

The importance of the Marine Engineering Department cannot be overstated. Whilst there
had been a successful dry docking and maintenance period and the Ship had been certified
for deployment, not long after deployment started it became apparent that one or two
gremlins had stowed aboard. The electrical items in the Galley were the first to misbehave
and require attention. But that was not all, two of the four diesel generators required some
serious attention, including the removal of several pistons and some cylinder liners and
there were defects on the sea boats and the sea boat hoists, all of which required the
attention of the marine engineers. The department also facilitated the Nuclear, Biological
and Chemical (NBC) tests which are essential to ensure that the Ship remains ready for full
operational duty.

It will be interesting to follow the two-crew concept as it matures.

Page 20 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors | Autumn 2022