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Crew of veteran minehunter Cattistock gear up for impending Gulf mission
14 February 2025
Crew of veteran Portsmouth minehunter HMS Cattistock are gearing up for a demanding patrol in the Gulf through equally-challenging training in the Scottish lochs and islands.
From coping with fires and floods to launching robot submersibles to blow up seabed mines and blasting surface targets with machine guns and cannon, the 50 crew are being put through their extensive paces over several weeks off western Scotland.
The Royal Navy rotates its mine warfare crews through its ships both in the UK and overseas to allow it to maintain a permanent presence in the Gulf.
Cattistock’s crew are lined up to take over their sister ship HMS Middleton in Bahrain this summer.
Preparation for that operational mission generally requires around six months of training which gradually builds up to a thorough assessment by a team of Royal Navy experts.
As with all RN vessels, the training covers the basics of safe seafaring – navigation, ship handling, coping with breakdowns – moving up through the gears through basic military operations such as gunnery, launching the sea boat, minehunting and dive team operations, to full-on conflict scenarios.
The ship celebrated her 44th birthday last month but although the Hunt class were built four decades ago, their ‘plastic’ hulls mean they don’t ‘age’ like regular warships – and the equipment inside from engines and generators to galley fittings and mine warfare system is upgraded and replaced frequently to maintain their cutting edge.
Cattistock’s crew is a mix of old hands like her Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Rob Garner who has nearly two decades under his belt in the Navy, to young men and women like mine warfare specialist Able Seaman Ewan Craig, from Hereford, for whom Cattistock is his first ship.
We’ve learnt a lot very quickly and I have enjoyed every minute of being at sea, especially live gunnery as a 30mm and heavy machine gun aimer.
“The training has been very challenging – but good fun,” he said. “We’ve learnt a lot very quickly and I have enjoyed every minute of being at sea, especially live gunnery as a 30mm and heavy machine gun aimer.”
Another rookie is Sub Lieutenant Sophie Huby, a native Scot from Elgin, is who is conducting her specialist training as a warfare officer.
She has learned to ‘hover’ HMS Cattistock, maintaining the ship’s exact position while minehunting, “Ship handling is a vital skill for Officers of the Watch and ‘hovering’ is essential for minehunting, requiring quick and careful reactions,” she said. “It has been really useful for me to learn how to do this in support of real operations and the ship’s training.”
The waters off Kintyre and Campbeltown in February are about 8 Celsius… nearly ten degrees colder than the coldest it ever gets in the Gulf. At its peak in August/September, the waters off Bahrain can top 35 Celsius.
Not only does the temperature impact how long divers can spend in the water identifying / neutralising mines and unexploded ordnance, but also the effectiveness of the sonar to ‘see’ through layers in the water.
And as the ship draws in sea water to produce both fresh water for crew, ablutions and the air conditioning – it places tremendous demands on the machinery to keep the sailors and systems as cool as possible.
All of which are things to think about when the 50 crew arrive in Bahrain. From what he’s seen and experienced so far, Lt Cdr Garner believes his team will rise to the challenge.
“We’re looking forward to our Gulf deployment and we will look proudly on our time in HMS Cattistock and the adventures we’ve had round UK waters. I think the crew have proven you really can teach an ‘old Catt’ new tricks!”