Floating Town

Szöveg: Photo report by Péter Snoj | 2015. június 22. 9:00

Organized for the 43rd time, NATO Exercise BALTOPS 2015 involving 17 countries is in full swing on the Baltic Sea. This year 49 warships are participating in the at-sea phase of the exercise, among them the British HMS Ocean helicopter carrier, from which our colleague reports…

HMS Ocean, one of the main ships on the exercise is currently accessible only by helicopter

An SH-60 Seahawk of the US Navy helped with boarding the ship

Although we witnessed a meeting of two different nations (US helicopter on a British ship), everything showed professionalism and team spirit

The HMS Ocean and its predecessors bearing the same name have been at sea for 400 years

Captain Timothy Henry, the Commanding Officer of the ship described the HMS Ocean as a basic hull that can be built up almost any way as required. If needed, helicopters can fill the hangar, if needed, the ship sets sail empty so that it can be loaded at the destination port. The number of variations is endless…

A core crew of 350-400 is needed to operate the ship, but during this exercise the quartermaster is counting with full billets, which means around 1,000 men

On the flight deck and the hangar deck there is room for twelve transport helicopters, six Lynxs or five Chinooks

Servicewomen make up only 10 per cent of the ship’s crew…

…but this is a remarkable ratio in the Royal Navy, considering that a decision permitting women to join the Navy was made just a couple of years ago. It was last year that the first woman sailor started service with the submarine crews

As it turned out, the carrier has to be in motion during take-offs and landings, because the stream of wind can push the descending or ascending helicopters, so to compensate this they are traveling straight ahead with constant speed

The exercise makes great demands on the crew. Helicopters arrive to land or refuel almost every 15 minutes

Aircraft directors are the“eyes" of the maneuvers on the helicopter carrier. They decide about each step. They can send the approaching aircraft to circle around if they deem it necessary until the conditions are in place for landing

The helicopters are coming in one after the other

Lots of aircraft in the sky and on the deck

Apache helicopters

The regular elevator service between the flight deck and the hangar deck is operated by a crew member turning a very simple stick

Its narrow corridors and stairs leading to inscrutable places make the ship the most expensive labyrinth produced in the world. The only ones who know where they are going have been serving on the ship for years. But it is a mystery how they were able to find their way earlier…

If needed, a ROLE-1 level medical complex is available, which can be upgraded to ROLE-2 level with extra staff

Healing souls – the chapel

The British know well that a varied diet is an important part of maintaining morale. With the midnight shift also in mind, hungry sailors are offered a choice of three different menus four times a day