Warships kept armed by ammunition facility
Floating jetty’s Covid challenge
CURTAINS have been lifted on how military chiefs have kept Britain’s fleet of warships armed to the teeth while battling to keep coronavirus at bay.
As well as being the home of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth Harbour also houses the Senior Service’s critically-important ammunition facility.
The floating jetty located in the middle of the harbour, north of navy HQ on Whale Island, fits vessels with everything they need for battle – from missiles to bullets.
Ammunition is supplied to the 279ft site from Defence Munitions Gosport, located at a 550-acre hub on the western shore of city’s marina.
Unlike other parts of the naval base, staff working at the re-arming centre have been unable to carry out their job remotely, so the site has remained open throughout the pandemic.
Steve Hopper, naval base director of operations, said it had been a huge struggle which required all of ‘Team Portsmouth’ to pull together to achieve.
‘Working with explosives is always complex and all involved have risen to the additional challenges of delivering this activity safely in a Covid environment to ensure that this key critical defence output has been maintained,’ he added.
Operating from the facility is a complicated challenge full of risks.
It involves a large number of individuals, from Portsmouth’s Queen Harbour Master team, Ministry of Defence pilots and experts from Portsmouth Explosive Safety Advisory Group as well as riggers and crane operators from BAE Systems, tugs from Serco, and sailors from the navy.
Gary Tuff, head of Defence Munitions Gosport, and site manager Mark Champion, oversaw many of the improvements needed to work during the pandemic, including Covid-19 risk assessments.
Gary said: ‘We’ve constantly delivered for the front-line commands, while addressing the challenges presented by Covid-19.
‘All Defence Equipment and Support defence munitions sites have maintained outputs. Whether that’s the Sea Viper missile here or the Storm Shadow at DM Beith, Paveways at Glen Douglas or outfitting a Type 23 at Plymouth, we have consistently delivered to our front-line commands throughout the pandemic. I’m immensely proud of how DM Gosport has reacted. Their behaviours have been first class.’