The Good Guys Wear Black……

Just before first light a warship cuts purposefully through international waters.  Inside quietly and efficiently a team clad in black make their way to a disembarkation point to be picked up by high speed craft. In a quick orderly fashion the team embark in their Jet boats, before making a fast transit to their target vessel.  Today it is a large merchantman, usually used for carrying a cargo of motor parts, it is however at this time empty and acting in a suspicious manner and is not complying with instructions, a team of sailors and marines has been sent to verify its identity.  They quickly make their way onto the vessel and initially face little resistance form its small crew.  Not all crew are accounted for and whilst searching the ship the team come under attack from concealed crewmembers armed with automatic weapons, they return fire and take down the aggressors.
 
The Boarding carries on, and the vessel is found to be involved in illegal drug and weapon smuggling, the exercise is complete. Today it was just a drill, the international waters just off Portland, the target vessel the ex-RFA Sir Tristram and the bad guys the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST), Naval Military Training (NMT) Team. But in the coming months this is exactly the sort of task HMS Northumberland’s boarding party could face for real. 

The ship is busily undertaking phase 3 training under the direction of FOST, in preparation for her forthcoming Deployment.

Through the course of the training, members of the boarding team have been put through their paces carrying out numerous boarding’s against several different vessels at different times of day in all sorts of weather.  The highlight of which so far has been a day spent on the ex- RFA Sir Tristram being taught the principles of cover and manoeuvre, room entry and advanced search techniques.   Northumberland’s Team is the fourth to carry out the revised training package which teaches more advanced boarding principles.  It gave the Devonport Sailors the opportunity to try something a little more different to what they are used to and the chance to train alongside members of the Royal Marine Fleet Protection Group who they may well be working alongside in the future.