Royal Navy minehunter HMS Ramsey got underway from its homeport of HMNB Clyde last week to start a deployment with the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1).
During its deployment, Ramsey will help with the disposal of historical ordnance left over from conflicts in the Northern European maritime region, as well as participation in exercises and strategic defense engagement activities.
“The opportunity to contribute to SNMCMG1 provides a fantastic opportunity to contribute to a fully-integrated MCM capability on operations,” Lieutenant Commander Peter Ware, commanding officer of HMS Ramsey and MCM1 Crew 8 said.
“Exercising alongside forces from Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany, Denmark and Norway provides both visible assurance and the demonstration of a variety of maritime capabilities to both our NATO allies and potential aggressors.”
With the crew having returned from a seven-month deployment to operation Kipion in December 2017, during the period leading up to this deployment, Ramsey was put through her paces to ensure that both she and her crew were at full readiness to deploy.
This included a period of directed continuation training (DCT) requiring a demonstration of the full breadth of capability Ramsey offers as a mine counter measures vessel.