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Navy’s small boats squadron receives prestigious peace award for challenging small boats mission
19 August 2024
The highest collective award in the UK’s Armed Forces for humanitarian/lifesaving work has gone to some of the smallest units in the nation’s military inventory.
The Royal Navy’s Coastal Forces Squadron are the new holders of the prestigious Firmin Sword of Peace, awarded by Britain’s longest-standing swordmaking company to the military unit or establishment judged to have made ~ the most valuable contribution to humanitarian activities - at home or overseas”.
It’s the third time the Portsmouth-based squadron – which oversees the operations of 16 P2000 fast patrol boats around the UK and waters of northern Europe – has been singled out, this time for the challenging mission dealing with small boats/migrant crossings in the Channel.
For 14 months, the squadron and its boats supported broader government efforts – led by the Home Office – in the Dover Strait.
It marked a major change of mission for the squadron which, until then, had largely focused on supporting navigation training.
Instead, the patrol boats – crewed by just five sailors – found themselves playing a key role in a complex multi-agency operation, codename Isotrope.
The squadron was responsible for maintaining an enduring presence in the channel over a 14-month period – significantly stepping up its operational tempo with six vessels available at any one time to save life and ensure the safety of navigation in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Working closely with the Maritime Coastguard Agency and RNLI, the P2000 crews identified, tracked, and safely recovered migrants attempting to reach the UK.
Recovering more than half the vessels used to cross the Channel, safeguarding disruptions to shipping within the Channel and ensuring safe passage to Dover for processing.
As part of the recovery, they also helped identify links between the boats, distribution cells and the gangs behind the operation.
“It was a really tough period, operating in all weathers,” said Chief Petty Officer Dean Reed, HMS Trumpeter’s Marine Engineering Officer. “Keeping the boats at the required readiness away our logistics and engineering hubs was a real challenge.”
Commander Richard Skelton, the squadron’s Commanding Officer, said its work on the operation had been “a credit to every member of the squadron”.
He continued: “The operation was very challenging for the squadron as a whole, with ship’s companies relocated away from their home bases.
“The requirement to keep six boats available at short notice was a tremendous engineering challenge - and one which we met, delivering 99 per cent availability in demanding conditions.”
The Coastal Forces Squadron’s work on Isotrope marked the first step in its transformation, shifting from training duties to operationally-focused missions, ranging as far afield as the Norwegian Arctic, Gulf of Riga in the Baltic and even the heart of Paris where two P2000s could be seen earlier this summer supporting long-standing Anglo-French relations and D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations.
Originally the Wilkinson – and since 2005, the Firmin - Sword of Peace has been presented for nearly 60 years.
It was formally handed to Commander Richard Skelton, the Commanding Officer of the Coastal Forces Squadron, aboard HMS Victory by Rear Admiral Rob Pedre, Commander UK Strike Force and Tony Kelly from Firmin.