HMS Trenchant returned home to Devonport yesterday – 11 months to the day she sailed on what became the longest patrol ever completed by one of the Royal Navy’s hunter-killer boats.
Around 200 family members were waiting for the Trafalgar-class boat to return after 335 days away – 267 of them east of Suez.
Pictures: LA(Phot) Ben Shread, FRPU West
NOW here’s a rare sight on the banks of the Hamoaze.
No, not sunshine. HMS Trenchant – last seen on this river exactly 11 months.
The T-boat was greeted by some 200 families yesterday as she completed the longest patrol by a Trafalgar-class submarine in their 32-year history: 335 days away.
To mark their achievements on that record-breaker – beating HMS Tireless’ 2010-11 patrol by 12 days – the 130 crew were thanked personally by Britain’s most senior military figure, Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards, who joined the boat at Plymouth Breakwater for the final few moments of the marathon tour of duty.
Once alongside, the tears flowed and the smiles beamed from ear to ear as crew and families were reunited.
PO Gregory is reunited with his wife Kirsty, son Owen, and daughters LuLu and Nancy
Thanks to rotation of the 170-strong crew, at least 40 of Trenchant’s ship’s company have been at home at any one time – but seven submariners, ‘black watch’, completed the whole 11-month deployment.
“Submariners enjoy their work so they are not affected by long deployments and simply get on with their duties, meeting every challenge head-on,” said Trenchant’s CO Cdr Irvine Lindsay, from Glasgow.
“Whilst I am enormously proud of the achievements of my ship’s company I do not believe that they are a unique body of men. I am convinced that the resilience, dedication, professional pride and sheer grit demonstrated by this ship’s company is indicative of the high calibre of personnel serving across the whole of the Submarine Service – and indeed the Royal Navy.”
Cdr Lindsay, who was met by his wife Janet, added: “I’m looking forward to fresh air outside a submarine, to a full night’s sleep instead of being woken up to go into the control room and to climbing the Cairngorms, far from the sea.”
Lt Cdr Stuart Barrie, the submarine’s weapon engineer officer, was greeted by his wife Fiona and their excited children Niamh, three, and son Toby, six, from Plymouth.
“It’s fantastic to be back home after so long,” he said, “It’s a bit surreal really after so long away. I last saw them five months ago - the longest I’ve been away from them.”
Fiona added: “It’s great to have Stu back. The children are so excited to have their daddy back. Toby wants to show him all the swimming certificates he’s got and his good school reports. And Niamh’s going to show her daddy her dancing.”
The long-awaited homecoming was marked by families with traditional welcoming banners at Devil’s Point, while families waiting in the Naval Base itself were entertained by the Band of HM Royal Marines Plymouth as they waited impatiently for Trenchant to tie up.
Daniel Tookey, a tactical systems operator from Plymouth, was welcomed by his wife Lisa and son Lucas, aged two years, who was dressed in a sailor’s suit.
"It is a great relief to be home after so long away. I was so longing to see Lisa and Lucas. I want to bath him and spend time with them both, to eat when and what I want and to sleep in my own bed,” he said.
As the latest Royal Navy hunter-killer submarine to uphold the Silent Service’s presence in the Middle East – a mission going back to 2001 – Trenchant spent 267 days east of Suez.
Some 37 crew completed the patrol as fully-qualified submariners having earned their coveted Dolphins badges as the boat added 38,800 nautical miles to her odometer – that’s the equivalent of sailing around the world one-and-three-quarter times.
The impressive statistics don’t end there. Trenchant spent 4,700 hours dived – that’s six and a half months without sunlight (bit like a British summer…).
The long patrol meant the crew consumed 30,240 eggs – which would take 45 hens laying two a day the length of the deployment to achieve; 7,904 litres of milk, the average dairy cow produces 5ltr a day, so 4.3 years ‘work’ for a single cow; and 20,592 sausages (called Snorkers by submariners) – laid end to end these would stretch approximately two kilometres. In all Trenchant’s chefs cooked 103,350 meals, and produced over 44,000 homemade rolls.
