Navy

HMS Somerset Drops In On Viking Celebrations In Shetlands

The Frigate HMS Somerset became the first major British warship to call on the Shetland Islands in three decades when she paid a whistle-stop visit to Lerwick.

Having escorted a brand-new Chinese frigate through the Dover Strait, Somerset broke away to take part in NATO anti-submarine exercises off the coast of Norway.

Before that, however, the ship made a brief stop in the Shetland capital to take on supplies.

Despite the rather impromptu nature of the visit, the ship’s company somehow found time to squeeze in several other activities.

They hosted the local media for Somerset's arrival – the journalists apparently 'really enjoyed' the boat transfer in chopper seas.

There were tours of the vessel for local Army reservists, cadets and students from the islands’ engineering college.

There was a rig run, which went down very well with locals.

Crewmemabers also participated in the islands’ midsummer carnival – a volunteer platoon surreptitiously slipped into the lines of locals (mostly dressed in Viking costumes, some of them costing £2,000) parading through the heart of Lerwick.

And finally, on a more solemn note, a wreath was laid on the local war memorial to remember Shetlanders who gave their lives in two world wars.

Although smaller RN vessels have visited the islands – which lie 50 miles northeast of Orkney – frigates and destroyers very rarely venture up to the Shetlands.

Lt Cdr Brendan Keane, the frigate’s weapon engineer officer, said:

“A great deal of effort in a short space of time – and at short notice – provided some positive publicity and the visit was enjoyed by both the ship’s company and the people of Shetland."

Many locals took an interest in the ship, among them one seal, keeping an eye on the Somerset while it was berthed.

Photo courtesy of: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2323379

The ship’s focus has now switched to hunting down three diesel and one nuclear submarine lurking somewhere in a 14,000-square-mile patch of the Norwegian Sea (that’s about six times the size of Devon).

Three thousand sailors and aircrew from eight Allied nations – Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Turkey, the UK , and the USA – are taking part in Dynamic Mongoose, committing nine surface ships, four submarines and four maritime patrol aircraft.