Families welcome home HMS heroes (From Watford Observer)

Families welcome home HMS heroes

9:31am Thursday 24th August 2006

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ROYAL Navy warship HMS St Albans, which evacuated more than 240 Britons from war-torn Lebanon, finally returned home to Portsmouth last Friday after one of its most gruelling deployments.

The Type 23 frigate had been on its way back to the UK after a six-month deployment in The Gulf, protecting Iraqi oil platforms, when it was called upon to join other British Forces gathering off Beirut.

The ship arrived in Beirut at the end of July where it helped 243 passengers onboard before making a hasty retreat to Limassol, Cyprus. It joined a fleet of six ships, including HMS Gloucester, HMS York, HMS Illustrious, HMS Bulwark and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria in the huge evacuation mission.

About 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 150 Israelis, mainly soldiers, died in weeks of fighting which began after the militant group Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

Speaking last week, Commander Steve Dainton said: "It has been a tremendously demanding but an ultimately satisfying six months, during which we have experienced a whole range of contrasting challenges.

"Throughout I have been consistently impressed by the resilience, ability and sheer determination of my sailors. Our involvement with the evacuation demonstrated just that and showed that a warship is a remarkably versatile platform."

In its latest deployment, the Royal Navy's newest frigate, which is armed with eight Harpoon Missiles and a vertical Launch Sea Wolf anti-missile system, has sailed a total of 32,000 nautical miles - the equivalent of one-and-a-half times around the world.

While in the Persian Gulf, the ship's crew conducted maritime security operations, preventing the illegal use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to illegally transport people, weapons or other contraband.

As part of a diplomatic programme the crew visited 16 countries, including Algeria, Albania, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lebanon, months before the current crisis.

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