HMS Somerset gets new commander

Commander Tim Berry has assumed command of the Royal Navy warship HMS Somerset based at Plymouth Navy Base.

Tim was born and raised in South Somerset and joined the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer in 1997. He has seen active service in a number of global hot-spots in the last 19 years.

He said: “It’s a great honour and privilege to take command of one of Her Majesty’s finest and will undoubtedly be a career high that will be hard to top.

“The warm Somerset welcome I’ve received from my ship’s company has been outstanding and I look forward to working with our broad range of affiliates from across my home county.’’

He joins HMS Somerset, a Type 23 Frigate at a busy time conducting national tasking around the UK.

The ship is primarily designed to hunt for submarines in the North Atlantic, but has also been used more broadly protecting UK interests globally for 20 years; tasks ranging from humanitarian aid, counter-narcotics to policing operations.

Tim who attended Combe St Nicholas Primary School, Holyrood Secondary School, Chard and the Richard Huish College in Taunton, has been involved with the Royal Navy on air operations in Iraq in 1999, with NATO in Kosovo in 1999, in Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan.

“My best appointments in the Royal Navy have been when given the privilege to lead and work with highly professional men and women.

“There is something very special about being part of such a close knit team, that I’ve not experienced in any other walk-of-life and I consider myself to be extremely fortunate,’’ he said.

His career has seen him serving in a range of ships during his apprenticeship at sea, from frigates and destroyers, through to smaller offshore patrol vessels and larger amphibious assault ships based in Plymouth.

A keen cricketer, he represented his school, town and county before joining the Navy and now he enjoys sea fishing off the Pembrokeshire coast and during the winter clay shooting.