North Woolwich Naval Base – Feb 2023

The King George V (KGV) Lock in London’s Royal Docks has very few larger vessel visitors and only occasional visits from from naval vessels (other than for the biennial defence show (Report on DSEI 2021 here) – so it was a welcome return of 3 ships belonging to SNMCMG1 following a similar visit in October 2021.

At the time of the visit to London in February 2023 the vessels assigned to SNMCMG1 comprised of the following ships (the command and group membership is regularly changed to foster interoperability between nations):

HNoMS Nordkapp (A531)

The Command Vessel, KNM Nordkapp, travelled further up the Thames to moor alongside HMS BELFAST – it is not known if the failure of the KGV Lock’s outer gate prevented this vessel mooring in the Lock due to the reduction in capacity.

HNoMS Otra (M351)

HNLMS Schiedam (M860)

FGS Rottweil (M1061)

If you are thinking that the name of the German Navy ship sounds familiar or if you noticed the large dog motif on the front of the superstructure these are due to the fact that the vessel is named after a town in Germany from which a notable breed of dog originates.

The @Forsvaret_no ALTA-class #minesweeper is a fascinating vessel, part catamaran/ part hovercraft and propelled by water jets for a top speed of 30 kts.

🇳🇴 KNM Otra (M351) is visiting #London as part of #SNMCMG1. #dlr_blog@COM_SNMCMG1@NATO_MARCOM pic.twitter.com/peB5n3TIzJ

— Andrew Christy (@AJBC_1) February 24, 2023

The following two images of the ships in the KGV Lock were taken through a window from a Tower Block.

KNM Otra (M351) &

FGS Rottweil (M1061)

A few more shots of the flotilla in the KGV Lock can be seen below:

The tug CHRISTINE attended to be on stand-by to assist the arriving vessels but was not needed.

CHRISTINE

More information on the NATO Maritime Command can be found here.

Going Dutch

The Royal Netherlands Navy are regular visitors to London and have brought a variety of different vessel types to the capital over the years but December 2022 saw the first visit of HNLMS Karel Doorman which is a Joint Support Ship.

HNLMS Karel Doorman

The vessel is equipped to undertake a number of roles as it has fuel storage tanks and Replenishment-at-Sea transfer rigs as well as a large helicopter deck and hanger in addition to a vehicle deck and space for two Landing Craft.

Replenishment-at-Sea transfer rig

NH90 N-327

HNLMS Karel Doorman

On this visit the HNLMS Karel Doorman was accompanied by the Frigates HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën & HNLMS Van Amstel and the Offshore Patrol Vessel HNLMS Groningen. The four ships having been conducting various exercises under the ‘Atlantic Archer 2022’ operational name.

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën

HNLMS Van Amstel

HNLMS Van Amstel

HNLMS Van Amstel

HNLMS Groningen

HNLMS Groningen

A fifth Dutch Navy vessel, in the form of mine countermeasures vessel HNLMS Schiedam, was also visiting London. It had arrived from it’s homeport in the Netherlands in the early hours of the morning with the other four ships arriving during the afternoon.

File photo of HNLMS Schiedam

Whilst having five vessels from the same Navy in London at the same time is rare it certainly isn’t the only time London has had a large group of visitors for example the French Navy visited with all eight of their Léopard-class training ships back in 2013.

The German Navy have had two larger group visits with six ships visiting in 2015 (5 fast missile boats and support ship) and the previous year a mixed mine-sweeping fleet of ten vessels had visited.

A few more pictures of the ‘Atlantic Archer’ visitors can be seen here.