HMS Mersey

The Master and his wife attended a very convivial evening on board HMS Mersey on Thursday 7 May 2009 as guests of the present Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Al Wilson, and his wife, Lucy. Also present were the three preceding Commanding Officers of the ship, as well as Jennie Reeve, the Lady Sponsor, and her husband, Rear Admiral Jonothon Reeve. The Lady Sponsor is the one who launched the vessel with the proverbial bottle of bubbly and has an enduring interest in her thereafter.

During the visit the Master and Lieutenant Commander signed a memorandum of understanding (the terms of which had been approved by the Court beforehand). The memorandum records that the aims of the association are, first, to promote and contribute to the well-being and interests of both parties and to provide such mutual assistance and support as might be desirable and practicable. It goes on to state that the Master and Senior Warden shall be elected Honorary Members of the Wardroom for their period of office and invited to pay an official visit to one of the exercises or other appropriate event in the United Kingdom. In return the Commanding Officer will be elected as an Honorary Freeman of the Company and invited to nominate a member of the crew annually to receive the Master’s prize and certificate in accordance with criteria agreed from time to time between both parties. The Commanding Officer (and the selected crew member) will be invited to the Installation Dinner each year.

The Court has agreed that, in recognition of Al Wilson’s role as the founding Commanding Officer of this association and the considerable effort he has made in getting off the ground, he should become an Honorary Freeman of the Company for the duration of his naval career, rather than the length of his command of the ship. He plans to accept the Freedom at the Court Meeting on 15 July 2009.

Later in the month the Master ventured to sea for a couple of days. He had previously been invited to join the ship for exercises in the North Sea in November but a heavy work load had precluded him from doing so. (Editor: there was a strong rumour that the anticipated sea conditions rather than business commitments had something to do with his decision to decline this invitation).

The Master joined the ship at Portsmouth and spent most of the time in the English Channel, off Devon. The sea could not have been better for a fair weather sailor. He saw how the vessel tracked down fishing vessels and went about her task of checking that there had been no infringements of the fisheries regulations (which vary from place to place around the UK coast). There was only one offender during his time at sea: a fishing vessel had a broken boarding step, which the skipper readily conceded needed to be repaired. He escaped with an oral warning and a note on the ship’s records of the incident.

During his stay on board the Master was impressed by the manoeuvrability and versatility of HMS Mersey. She can turn rapidly and come to a complete stop at sea within 276 yards (or 43 seconds) when travelling at 21 knots.  He was slightly surprised that she did not have on board a fluent speaker of French or Spanish, given the number of European fishermen in British waters. The Master witnessed a number of exercises including a “man overboard” procedure – he was not asked to act as the man overboard or his rescuer. He took part in a firearms exercise with the use of live ammunition and was cast out to sea in a dry suit, in a rubber launch, with no land in site and treated to what could be described as glorified high-speed jet ski ride – a rather eerie experience for him but, after a few minutes of “adjustment”, proved to be great fun.

HMS Mersey is one of three ships of her class, the other two being HMS Mersey and HMS Tyne. She is in fact owned by the VT Group and leased to the Royal Navy – an arrangement which goes down well with the crew since VT Group’s response to operational problems has proved helpful and swift.

The Master was given a very warm welcome by the crew – about 30 in all – and the visit provided a great opportunity for him to learn more about the ship’s activities and to strengthen the newly-formed relationship between the Company and the ship.

It has been provisionally agreed that members of the Company should visit HMS Mersey during her visit to Docklands (for a trade exhibition involving the VT Group) on Friday 11 September 2009.