According to the old adage “if it ain’t raining, it ain’t training”. This certainly held true for HM Ships Sabre and Scimitar of the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron (RNGS) recently as they underwent their annual week-long operational training package.

Under the scrutiny of a team from Flag Officer Sea Training’s (FOST) Mine Warfare and Patrol Vessel section, the 26-strong Gibraltar Squadron was put through their paces against fires, floods and disasters at sea.

Normally the ‘FOSTies’, as they are known throughout the Navy, operate from Plymouth and Faslane with ships and submarines under their control for periods of training before they deploy. However, as RNGS are already permanently based on the Rock, the FOSTies had to come to them. Normally this would mean some time in the sun for the FOST team who are based in Faslane but, while the UK was battling the ‘Beast from the East’, Gibraltar was dealing with its own extreme weather, being battered by high winds and rainstorms, enough to trigger rock falls and cause damage to buildings and scaffolding.

Despite the weather, the sailors and marines of RNGS had their chance to demonstrate their operational readiness and capability, taking SABRE and SCIMITAR to sea in a series of exercises which tested their response to any and all emergencies. For some of the ship’s company this was their first time training under FOST and to observe the high standards that it is their job to maintain across the fleet.

Lieutenant Tom Loxton Royal Navy, Commanding Officer of HMS SCIMITAR said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for my Ship’s company to demonstrate their operational capability to the FOST staff. With the staff onboard my team were able to concentrate on dealing with emergencies as they arose and really throw themselves into the scenario; the benefits of this realistic training speak for themselves and I was extremely proud to see us come away with some very high scores and positive feedback from the FOSTies.”

Although the ships were not graded against each other, only on how they individually perform, there was a natural level of friendly competition between SCIMITAR, SABRE and the HQ element. It was still a team effort and the ships helped one another out, sharing feedback and improvements to achieve the best results. Overall the two ships and the squadron as a whole were awarded a grade of ‘Very Satisfactory’.

The Squadron’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander James Myhill Royal Navy said: “I am extremely proud of the V Sat grading that the Squadron has achieved. It is testament to their preparation, which began right at the start of the year, for the stresses and challenges of operational sea training. The training package delivered by FOST applies pressure to individuals and to units, testing their materiel and administrative readiness as well as their ability to fight, and keep fighting when things go wrong. I was particularly impressed by those members of the Squadron who have only been with us for a short period or indeed, have only been in the Navy for a short time. Everyone stepped up to the mark to demonstrate to FOST that RNGS remains an effective and capable team, delivering success on operations down here in the Mediterranean.”

During the FOST training, RNGS were still tasked with demonstrating UK sovereignty of the British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. They remain deployed on that mission as well as providing force protection to visiting ships and submarines which use Gibraltar as one of the UK’s forward mounting bases for global operations including maritime security and disaster relief work.