HMS Bulwark Engages in Exercise Sea Snake

With less than a week to go before they arrive back in the UK, HMS Bulwark’s embarked Royal Marines put on a showstopper by storming a beach in Gibraltar.

Exercise Sea Snake saw commandos from Charlie Company 40 Commando and 4 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (ASRM) land on East Beach in Gibraltar for a routine wader exercise.

Called Exercise Sea Snake the exercise involved personnel landing ashore from the Fleet Flagship HMS Bulwark and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Lyme Bay, testing their unique skills required for amphibious operations.

The Marines went ashore on offshore raiding craft as well as landing craft capable of carrying commandos and heavy vehicles, tanks and supplies.

HMS Bulwark’s Amphibious Operations Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jon Coomber said:

Gibraltar offers the perfect mix of maritime terrain on which to hone our amphibious skills.

Prior to arriving in Gibraltar, HMS Bulwark made an entrance to the Grand Harbour of Valetta in Malta, almost a year to the day since her last visit.

HMS Bulwark is on her way home from Cougar 14, the routine annual deployment of elements of the UK’s Response Force Task Group (RFTG). She sailed from Plymouth in August 14 to the Mediterranean and Gulf regions, demonstrating the Royal Navy’s capacity to project an effective maritime component anywhere in the world.

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Press release, Image: UK Navy