THE NAVAL ENGINEER

26
HMS Albion Achieving
Extended Readiness
By WO1 Steve Southern BA, HMS Albion PEO and
Mr Andrew Davies, Strategic Class Authority,
LPD Through Life Manager
Introduction
As engineers, artificers or
technicians our professional life is
centred on the ability to keep a ship
at sea, fully capable of any tasking
or operation that can be asked
of it, adopting a mindset centred
on maintaining that operational
capability. Laying a ship up and
putting it into “mothballs”, as it has
become known, goes against the
grain. Davits, landing craft and the
embarked military force form the
function to fight in a ship such as
the Landing Platform Dock (LPD).
The ship is equipped with many
Joining up as an Artificer Apprentice in 1984 and completing an apprenticeship at the RNSME in 1987, Steve followed
an extended period of training across Marine Engineering platform aspects in the HM Ships Sheffield and Broadsword
until passing a CPO PQE. This was quickly followed by drafts to HMS Montrose as the propulsion artificer and a Hunt
class minesweeper in the Northern Ireland patrol as DMEO. After completing Charge Course, he experienced the
pleasures of rejoining Montrose, taking her out of Upkeep and to the Middle East before taking HMS Ocean out of
Upkeep and to the Far East. Selected for WO1, he was drafted to HMS Albion in time to join the early deployment for
Cougar, including a period supporting Op Ellamy. This included being involved at the outset in the planning and delivery
of HMS Albion into Extended Readiness. Away from the RN he now continues to raise three children and as an outlet
for other talents has recently graduated from the Open University with a First Class History Degree.
Andrew joined the Ministry of Defence in 1997 as an Apprentice Airframe and Propulsion technician at RAF St Athan
in South Wales. On completion of his training joining the Harrier maintenance facility working on Pegasus gas turbine
engines. In 2002 moving away from aviation to marine engineering in service support as part of Major Warships Integrated
Project Team as it was then known. Providing Design Authority support for the Propulsion systems of the LPD. From there
promoted and took on the role of Gas Turbine Propulsion manager caring for the not quite so modern Type 42 Destroyers
and CVS Propulsion systems. In 2009 a brief spell working back in the Aviation side of life in Saudi Arabia. However, after a
year of this returning to the creature comforts of Abbey wood and took up the role of the Through Life Manager for the LPD.
Success’s to date have included delivery of Bulwark through her first upkeep and the lay up of HMS Albion. An avid cyclist,
both mountain and road disciplines, getting out whenever free from injury; friends and colleagues will say he falls off a lot!
sensors and weapons honed in
order to protect such a fighting
ship. Her engines, generators
and chilled water systems supply
the movement and power that
facilitate her fighting ability. Finally,
without getting the recognition they
deserve are the equally essential
but unglamorous support systems
fundamental to ship’s habitability
and fighting ethos; refrigeration for
food, domestic equipment in the
galley, air conditioning, ventilation,
fresh water production, fire fighting
systems and the sewage systems,
without which a ship will cease to
function.
The October 2010 SDSR set out a
reduction in fleet numbers. In order
to balance the nation’s overdraft
one of the casualties of the SDSR
was HMS Albion. However, such
a valuable asset was not to be
condemned to a Turkish breakers
yard; instead HMS Albion has been
placed into Extended Readiness (ER)
for a period of 33 months. She will
then be regenerated as part of her
natural upkeep cycle and return to
the Fleet in March 2016. The current
plan shows Bulwark entering a similar
period and an indicative timeline for
the various phases and cross over of
the ships is given in Table 1 below.
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Albion LPP R11 (U) Extended Readiness Support Period 2 R4 R2
Bulwark R2 High Readiness LPD LPP
Table 1: LPD Readiness Plan