AMPHIBIOUS flagship HMS Bulwark spent four days in Liverpool – the newly-crowned European City of Culture – as she headed north for Norway.
The assault ship berthed in the shadow of the Liver Building in a dock normally used by cruise liners.
Bulwark hosted various groups and organisations during her stop on the Mersey: Sea Cadets, schools, Royal Naval Association shipmates, Mersey Naval and Maritime Society and World Ship Society. Her sailors also played several sporting fixtures against Liverpool teams.
The ship is leading the maritime side of winter war games in Norway, Armatura Borealis, with Amphibious Task Group commander Cdre Peter Hudson and his staff directing operations from the ship’s impressive command suite.
Three RN capital ships are involved in the Norwegian exercise: Bulwark is joined by her sister Albion, plus commando/ helicopter carrier HMS Ark Royal. Also committed to the fjords for two months are RFA landing support ship Mounts Bay and frigate HMS Cornwall.
The aim is to test the ability of men and machines to fight in the most demanding environment known to man.
3 Commando Brigade will be ferried to the fjords before being landed alongside comrades from Norway and the Netherlands.
Albion will be used by Major General Garry Robison, Commandant General of the Royal Marines, and his staff to oversee the maritime side of the exercise.
Bulwark’s sailors have been training hard to prepare themselves for operating in the demanding Arctic environment and Capt Jeremy Blunden is convinced his men and women will rise to the occasion.
“The Arctic weather we will experience in Norway will be extremely demanding, but we have all the necessary equipment we need and all the sailors and Royal Marines are looking forward to the challenge,” he added.
His ship will be back in Liverpool later this year to take part in the city’s Battle of the Atlantic commemorations.
Cornwall, meanwhile, enjoyed five days of Irish hospitality, berthing at Belfast’s Pollock Dock.
The ship hosted a careers’ forum for local headteachers and careers officers, as well as students, schoolchildren and Northern Ireland VIPs.
Cornwall’s sailors toured Carrickfergus Castle and the Giant’s Causeway, while more strenuous exercise lay in store for Cornwall’s rugby and football sides who clashed with RAF Aldergrove.
The assault ship berthed in the shadow of the Liver Building in a dock normally used by cruise liners.
Bulwark hosted various groups and organisations during her stop on the Mersey: Sea Cadets, schools, Royal Naval Association shipmates, Mersey Naval and Maritime Society and World Ship Society. Her sailors also played several sporting fixtures against Liverpool teams.
The ship is leading the maritime side of winter war games in Norway, Armatura Borealis, with Amphibious Task Group commander Cdre Peter Hudson and his staff directing operations from the ship’s impressive command suite.
Three RN capital ships are involved in the Norwegian exercise: Bulwark is joined by her sister Albion, plus commando/ helicopter carrier HMS Ark Royal. Also committed to the fjords for two months are RFA landing support ship Mounts Bay and frigate HMS Cornwall.
The aim is to test the ability of men and machines to fight in the most demanding environment known to man.
3 Commando Brigade will be ferried to the fjords before being landed alongside comrades from Norway and the Netherlands.
Albion will be used by Major General Garry Robison, Commandant General of the Royal Marines, and his staff to oversee the maritime side of the exercise.
Bulwark’s sailors have been training hard to prepare themselves for operating in the demanding Arctic environment and Capt Jeremy Blunden is convinced his men and women will rise to the occasion.
“The Arctic weather we will experience in Norway will be extremely demanding, but we have all the necessary equipment we need and all the sailors and Royal Marines are looking forward to the challenge,” he added.
His ship will be back in Liverpool later this year to take part in the city’s Battle of the Atlantic commemorations.
Cornwall, meanwhile, enjoyed five days of Irish hospitality, berthing at Belfast’s Pollock Dock.
The ship hosted a careers’ forum for local headteachers and careers officers, as well as students, schoolchildren and Northern Ireland VIPs.
Cornwall’s sailors toured Carrickfergus Castle and the Giant’s Causeway, while more strenuous exercise lay in store for Cornwall’s rugby and football sides who clashed with RAF Aldergrove.