HMS Grimsby has discovered 18 bombs and mines in the approaches to Oslo, say the Royal Navy.
The Royal Navy say here that, ships from five nations – currently attached to a NATO minehunting force – scoured stretches of the 60-mile fjord leading to Norway’s capital in the latest mission to ensure the waters are safe, 75 years after the war’s end.
“During the German occupation of Norway, the inlet was heavily mined – and bombers also dumped their payloads into the fjord.
NATO’s Standing Minecountermeasures Group 1 – charged with safeguarding northern European waters and ensuring they are mine-free – regularly conducts concerted ‘historic ordnance disposal’ operations, both in Oslofjord and off the coast of the Baltic States whose waters were similarly heavily mined and peppered with bombs during the conflicts of the 20th Century.
In the fortnight-long effort in Oslofjord, the NATO force – flagship FGS Donau, BNS Bellis, HNLMS Willemstad, HNoMS Otra plus Grimsby – located 38 pieces of ordnance, 18 alone by Grimsby (whose speciality is hunting in deep waters… and the fjord is up to 164 metres deep in places): 15 British air-dropped mines, plus three British bombs.”
“MCM1 Crew One in HMS Grimsby have made a strong start to their Baltic deployment,” said the ship’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Tom Gell.
“The group is a really good example of NATO nations working together to help secure sea lines of communication and keeping the high seas safe.”
That was reinforced by the group’s Commander Knudsen-Hauge Quick, who was quoted as saying:
“If the political situation between two parts becomes tense, and we need to move allied reinforcement to, for instance Norway, we know that most of these reinforcements will come by ships. Our task would be to make sure that the sea-lines of communications are safe for both merchant shipping, and allied reinforcements. If this is not done, you will also not receive allied reinforcements or civilian merchant goods.”
I’m not sure I’d want to be on one of the Sandowns at anything over a sea state 6.
Think the Sandowns are bad remember going out on the Helmsdale from Dundee, god she would screw even on a milk pond, had my head over the side for quite some time.
For me, the worse ever, was from Penzance to St Mary’s on the Scillonian. It has a flat bottom, so slides over waves. Bad seas don’t normally bother me, but on that boat, pretty much everyone was feeding the fish!
Hopefully, Germany will paying towards the costs of this operation and also the Clearance of this ordinance if needed.
Yeah have you seen the German defence budget and equipment states? They couldn’t fund this even if they wanted to sadly.
Actually germanys budget is growing far quicker than ours, wont be long before it matches the UK balance.
The article does say that HMS Grimsby “found 15 British air-dropped mines, plus three British bombs.” Good to see we are clearing up after ourselves. ?
Did you read it? The mines were b4itish
. Did you read it?, they are british mines, but the Germans can still pay for starting the dam war and occupying Norway.
Your comment reminds me of the scene in Auf Wedersehen Pet when Oz is being inordinately proud that the bomb that’s getting dug up was British to which the German Boss says “of course its a British bomb…. it didn’t go off”.
Enough went off to defeat them
I think Germany is one of the most atheist countries in Europe so it probably does clear its ordinance.