HMS Hurworth

Military experience

Born in Dorchester, Dorset in 1975, and educated at Chatham House Grammar School for boys and Southampton University, Ben Vickery joined the Royal Navy in April 1999, following a 2 year spell in industry. After initial Officer training and Fleet time in HM Ships Cornwall and Middleton, he was appointed to HMS Montrose as Diving Officer, deploying with her to the South Atlantic.

With a keen interest in Diving he successfully qualified as a Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Officer in 2004, and was part of the team which conducted Under Water Force Protection for RFA and Merchant Shipping in support of OP TELIC. Thereafter appointed to HMS Ledbury as Operations Officer and then Executive officer, undertaking the On Call Force deployment to the Baltic, highlighted by the disposal of historic ordnance in the eastern Mediterranean.
Following initial Staff training he then undertook Principal Warfare Course in 2006-2007 in advance of appointment to HMS Northumberland as Operations Officer. Following work up the ship deployed on Counter Piracy Operations in the Gulf of Aden initially as part of OP CALASH, and then latterly as the first unit to operate as part of the OP ATALANTA Counter Piracy task group. On return to UK waters operations included an extended and busy period as the Towed Array Patrol Ship in 2009.
Completing the Advanced Mine Warfare course at the end of 2009, he then joined the 2* UK Maritime Battlestaff, during which time he was the Deputy Staff Officer Operations to the UKMCC in Bahrain supporting the 12 RN Units in theatre, was part of the generation as the Maritime Component Commander for the NATO Response Force, was the lead planner within the staff for the Cougar deployment and Exercise Albanian Lion, before taking the role of COS Coord for his final 6 months on the staff.
Selected for Command in 2011, Ben joined the Second Mine Countermeasures Squadron in Command of MCM 2 Crew 1, in HMS Hurworth in April 2012.