Royal Navy Minehunter Deploys To The Baltic

HMS Cattistock has set sail from Portsmouth for a three-month deployment to the icy waters of the Baltic.

The Hunt Class mine hunter, designed to counter underwater explosives, is to join the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1.  

Working with six different nations as part of the group, Lt Cdr Charlie Wheen says they deployment will consist of;

“Force integration training but also historical ordinance disposal operations. So cleaning up and disposing of mines and bombs from previous conflicts.”

The minehunter is equipped with the Sea-Fox mine disposal system and four clearance personnel.

AB Diver Craig Wootton is a member of the diving team and well aware of the challenges ahead;

"The hardest factor, as one of the divers for this deployment, is going to be cold definitely.

"We're going to have to look out for each other, take it in turns, hot drinks all the time and just be careful."

In November 2016, HMS Cattistock destroyed a 500lb wartime bomb which was accidentally dredged up and then dropped next to a major North Sea gas pipeline.

The minehunter has been in service since 1982 and has a glass-reinforced plastic hull which makes her less noticeable to lurking dangers in minefields.