HMS Dagger and HMS Cutlass, vessels of the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron, recently participated in an extensive joint training exercise off the coast of Gibraltar, aimed at enhancing their maritime skills in protecting Gibraltar’s territorial waters, according to a Royal Navy news release.
The exercise, which took place in collaboration with the Royal Gibraltar Police, Gibraltar Defence Police, and HM Customs Gibraltar, involved practising a variety of sailing procedures and manoeuvres, including pacing, riding off, and boarding.
The day began with the Gibraltar Defence Police hosting a forum to discuss tactics, followed by practical drills on the water. Pacing drills saw vessels maintaining close proximity and matching speeds, while the more challenging “riding off” manoeuvres required vessels to force each other off course through controlled contact.
The drill simulates disrupting potential hostile activity, with Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Davies, Commanding Officer of HMS Dagger, describing it as a “crawl, walk, run approach, soon enough the vessels and coxswains were literally being pushed to their limits.”
Following the serials, the teams returned to the naval base, where the Gibraltar Defence Police demonstrated an armed boarding exercise on HMS Dagger, marking the culmination of weeks of training. Lt Cdr Davies highlighted the importance of the exercise in fostering cooperation among Gibraltar’s defence and security forces, stating, “This inter-op was a fantastic opportunity for RNGS to build on its existing relationship with all the organisations involved… it makes perfect sense to operate together.”
Planning for future exercises is already underway, with the aim of tackling more complex scenarios and further enhancing the operational capabilities of the units involved.
