A little thread on another naval snippet.

The 1970 Ark Royal Collision with a Soviet Destroyer.

So lets begin off with some background, once upon a time there was the Cold War, in which two opposing sides, the West and the Warsaw Pact really didn't trust each other and were
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was preparing for World War 3, so before WW3 would start both sides would constantly watch each others every single movement on the world stage, espionage was the buzzword of the day along with nuclear stockpiles, so it was common practise for Soviet escorts and other spyships
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to shadow the warships of the West, particularly capital ships, and we would do the same to theirs, after the fall of the Soviet Union these interactions ceased but in recent years there has been a resurgence in this activity, so this was more than common practise.
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Now HMS Ark Royal, the RNs last fleet carrier until now, was on a NATO exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean called Exercise LIMEJUG consisting of mainly RN and RAF assets, the Ark Royal, flagship of this exercise, was sailing in open waters between Malta and Crete with the
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Soviet Kotlin Class Destroyer Bravvy shadowing the Ark Royal keeping track of her movements.
On the night of the 9th November the Ark Royal was on night flying ops and just after the launch of her aircraft the Destroyer Bravvy began to approach the Ark on a collision course
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from the starboard bow, the Ark took what action she could by reversing full astern but not much could be done and the destroyer hit the Ark on her port bow. The Ark immediately stopped flying ops and diverted airborne aircraft to shore bases so the Ark and her escort
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HMS Yarmouth, a Type 12M Rothesay Frigate() could begin their search for the possible soviet sailors who were thrown overboard by the collision.
Below decks of the Ark Royal the sailors just felt a big shock and an abrupt stop in what was useably a stable ship.
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Some people began going for their wallets and life jackets before Action Stations sounded.
Soon after the Ark began launching boats to search for the survivors in the water.
There were seven Soviet crew members thrown in the water as a result of the collision.
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Of the seven soviet crew members in the water, the Ark and Yarmouth rescued some and returned them to their ships, however two were never recovered, I couldn't find any info or photos on them but if you have any please contact me.
No one on the Ark was injured nor was the
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ship itself and didn't need much repair after the incident, the damage to her was only slight.
She was holed above the waterline but continued on with the exercise after the incident.
Here is a photo of the aftermath.
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The incident had some profound effects on the Safety at Sea protocols that cannot be overlooked.
This incident did not raise tensions any higher but a few points in the wider affairs of things can be taken from it.
The Arks captain, Captain Raymond Lygo(later Admiral)
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was cleared of any responsibility in the subsequent Court Martial, blame was put entirely to the Soviets.
In the Commons, the incident was announced on 11th November by Minister of State for Defence Lord Balniel and was meant with some uproar about why the destroyer was
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shadowing so close.
In many circles, an incident such as this was scene as inevitable as this practise of shadowing enemy warships had been going on for decades and something of this magnitude was going to happen anyway, Admiral Morgan Gyles expressed this view in the Commons
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I terms of Sea Safety it did have an influence, the day after the incident the Soviet Government finally responded the long standing US request for Safety at Sea talks and the U.S.–Soviet Incidents at Sea Agreement was signed in 1972 with annual review which still takes place
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today.
Incidents like this have happened throughout Sea Faring history and very much continue to happen today with collision like those with the USS Fitzgerald and John S McCain in 2017 and no doubt will continue.
Sea Safety is one of the most important aspects of life at sea
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and thankfully the RN takes the lessons it learns from incidents like this and the Falklands War, or HMS Nottingham in 2002 very seriously and training is seen as one of the most vital parts of the RN and is something it prides itself in and its what keeps the RN at the top.
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