H.M.S Glamorgan
Deployment
November '83 - April '84
EDITORIAL
This book was conceived as a record of HMS GLAMORGAN’s final commission. However the Post-falklands Defence Review extended the planned life of the ship, so it was decided that the book should commemorate the exciting deployment to the Far East which was in prospect.
By the time the ship sailed from Portsmouth on 14 November 1984 the political situation in the Gulf had worsened and GLAMORGAN, in company with HMS BRAZEN and RFA BLUE ROVER, was restricted to operating in the Indian Ocean.The Group arrived in Gibraltar at 1000 on 18 November anticipating a weekend’s relaxation on the Rock. This was not to be. By 1800 we were back at sea starting a four day dash across the Mediterranean to provide assistance to the British Peace Keeping Force in Lebanon. It was at this point that it was suggested that the ship be renamed HMS MARTINI-"Any time, any place, anywhere. . .". (No apologies to FEARLESS).
Fortunately our stay off the Lebanese coast was short lived and we passed through the Suez Canal at the beginning of December to take over the duties of the Armilla Patrol. After a short period in the Gulf of Oman we went south to spend Christmas and the New Year in Mombassa, then on to visit the Seychelles.
We returned to the Gulf of Oman for another spell of patrol and visit Bahrain and Muscat before turning south east to visit Colombo and Cochin. A short period back at the Gulf followed, then a visit to Karachi before returning to the Red Sea to hand over to our relief, HMS GLASGOW. We returned through the Mediterranean as a somewhat more leisurely pace than on the way out and were able to enjoy stopovers in Rhodes and Gibraltar before we arrived home on 18 April 1984.
Although there was disappointment when we sailed in November because we were going to "miss out" on the visits to the exotic Far East, I think that the following articles show that all in all we had a very enjoyable five month deployment inthe sun.
I would like to thank Mrs. Cherry Foster and the Reverend Barry Hammett for their assistance in the production of this book and all those who contributed articles and photographs.
By the time the ship sailed from Portsmouth on 14 November 1984 the political situation in the Gulf had worsened and GLAMORGAN, in company with HMS BRAZEN and RFA BLUE ROVER, was restricted to operating in the Indian Ocean.The Group arrived in Gibraltar at 1000 on 18 November anticipating a weekend’s relaxation on the Rock. This was not to be. By 1800 we were back at sea starting a four day dash across the Mediterranean to provide assistance to the British Peace Keeping Force in Lebanon. It was at this point that it was suggested that the ship be renamed HMS MARTINI-"Any time, any place, anywhere. . .". (No apologies to FEARLESS).
Fortunately our stay off the Lebanese coast was short lived and we passed through the Suez Canal at the beginning of December to take over the duties of the Armilla Patrol. After a short period in the Gulf of Oman we went south to spend Christmas and the New Year in Mombassa, then on to visit the Seychelles.
We returned to the Gulf of Oman for another spell of patrol and visit Bahrain and Muscat before turning south east to visit Colombo and Cochin. A short period back at the Gulf followed, then a visit to Karachi before returning to the Red Sea to hand over to our relief, HMS GLASGOW. We returned through the Mediterranean as a somewhat more leisurely pace than on the way out and were able to enjoy stopovers in Rhodes and Gibraltar before we arrived home on 18 April 1984.
Although there was disappointment when we sailed in November because we were going to "miss out" on the visits to the exotic Far East, I think that the following articles show that all in all we had a very enjoyable five month deployment inthe sun.
I would like to thank Mrs. Cherry Foster and the Reverend Barry Hammett for their assistance in the production of this book and all those who contributed articles and photographs.