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Atlantic, Caribbean & USA
08:32 GMT - 13 May 2013
Atlantic, Caribbean & USA
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HMS Pembroke
Minehunter HMS Pembroke is one of seven Sandown-class minehunters based in Scotland. The hull and large amounts of the superstructure are built from glass reinforced plastic (GRP), ensuring a strong non-magnetic ship, fit to survive the shocks associated with minehunting activities.
HMS Pembroke uses high-powered sonar to search underwater for mine-like contacts. Upon detection of a contact, classification runs are conducted on various frequencies. Once identified as a potential mine, the Seafox mine disposal system is able to visually identify the target as a mine and then destroy it.
HMS Pembroke also has her own mine clearance diving team which is used to identify potential mine threats beneath the surface.
The small ship returned to her home port of Clyde in August last year, after spending over three years working in the Gulf alongside multinational forces. However the 7,000-mile journey home was not without its excitements, when she and sister ship HMS Middleton were called upon to guard a merchant ship in pirate-infested waters.
October saw the small ship lofted skywards when she was hauled out of the water in Faslane's submarine shed for the first two-weeks of an eight-week overhaul - a necessary tasking after her long duty overseas. Refreshed and rejuvenated, she returns to duty this year conducting training and tasking in British home waters.
COMMANDING OFFICER
Giles Palin
- RANK:
- Lieutenant Commander
- JOINED:
- 1996
- SPECIALISATION:
- Warfare
- PREVIOUS UNITS:
- HMS Grimsby, HMS Ramsey
Military experience
Giles Palin was educated at Ryde School on the Isle of Wight before reading law at Brunel University. He joined BRNC Dartmouth on completion of his degree in 1996.
After fleet training in HMS Plover (which included the handover of Hong Kong to China) and HMS Birmingham, he completed Officer of the Watch (OOW) training and saw service in a number of OOW and Navigating appointments between 1998 and 2004, including HM Ships Inverness, Gloucester and Newcastle, which saw deployments to the Gulf, Far East, Falklands and Caribbean.
On completion of his appointment as Navigating Officer of HMS Newcastle in 2004, Palin took command of Cambridge URNU and the attached patrol boat HMS Raider.
Initial Staff Course and Principal Warfare Officer’s course (PWO Course) followed in 2006, from which Palin qualified as a PWO(Above Water Warfare) and was appointed to HMS Albion for his initial PWO tour, seeing deployments to the Arctic circle and West Africa during his period onboard.
Palin successfully passed the Specialist Navigating Officer’s course in 2009, where he was awarded the Captain Farmer Memorial Prize. A short period on the staff of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST)(South) as a Navigation Sea Rider followed, before being appointed as the Navigating Officer HMS Ark Royal – where the ship lead a Carrier Strike Task Group deployment to the Eastern coast of the US and Canada.
Palin took Command of MCM1 Crew 5 in August 2011 which has included commands of HM Ships Grimsby and Ramsey, the latter being forward deployed to the Gulf
ABOUT THE UNIT
KEY STATISTICS
- Pennant
M107
- Displacement
600tonnes
- Complement
34personnel
- Length
52.5Metres
- Beam
10.5metres
- Draught
2.3metres
- Top Speed
13knots
- Range (Nautical)
2,500nautical miles
- Launch Date
12/10/97
- Commissioned date
06/07/00
- Draft Equivalent to
Almost 1/4draft of QE2
TAKE A LOOK
UNITS IN TIME
HMS Pembroke HISTORY
TRACK THE HISTORY OF SHIPS NAMED HMS Pembroke
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