SBS-Portsmouth

Seem like most appropriate forum for this so..

Has anyone else here wittnessed the SBS doing a ship boarding assault exercise on an abandoned ship in portsmouth harbour.Here is a brief description:
1.A load of RIBs sped up the harbour towards the ship.
2. A load of Sea Kings and Lynxes flew in at literally tree top height and hovered by this abandoned ship.
3. Ship was boarded by a load of guys in Helmets,respirators,body armour etc. with mp5s.
4.I culdn't tell what was going on here, they were all inside the ship.
5.Sea King flew around looking rather p15$ed off that my yacht was in the way. Dirty looks from men with balaclavas and mp5s on deck.
6.Sea King flew away with 6 (yes SIX!) guys hanging off a cable on the side.
7.Other guys extracted by RIB.

Pics coming soon.

Sounds like you've been having fun. Can't wait to see the pics. I didn't think they did that kind of thing in public.



[Edited on 4/6/04 by Hyperen]

Heres the first one. No pics of the guys with mp5s on deck - the defence police boat was lurking a fair way away.
ps-2 of these were taken the next day, thats why there is a lack of activity.

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[Edited on 4-6-2004 by minimi]

[Edited on 4-6-2004 by minimi]

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edited as picture was taking too long to load on dial up (it was pretty big)

[Edited on 4-6-2004 by minimi]

Note the Sea King coming in to pick up the guys standing at the back of the boat, and the RIBs rafted up down at the side.You can also sea the silouhette of some of the guys going up to the bridge. I think it was a counterterrorism exercise- As going past i heard a guy say "OK. Clear the bridge and search for the device."
Guys were moving in 4 man teams, armed with mp5s, some wearing respirators,some balaclavas.

[Edited on 4-6-2004 by minimi]

Nice pics minimi.

The SBS et al used to use Portland Harbour for this sort of thing before the dockyard closed in the mid 1990s. They used a similar ship moored out of sight on the eastern side of the harbour.

They could also sometimes be seen doing a clandestine attack on yachts moored two miles from the ship. Now they seem to have gone to Portsmouth.


zero lift

Thanks for the feedback and info zerolift.

Excellent pics mate.
I hope you don't get a knock from some Navy chaps. Asking you to keep clear of that ship and to kindly not take photos of navel excersise. OH be assured they made a note of your boat so they know who you are

Somehow I think if it was anything supersecret it wouldn't have been done in the middle of the harbour where every boat and person for miles around could see what was going on.I haven't compromised national security as all this stuff was happening in public anyway.

There wasn't even a request to keep clear on the radio. I hadn't realised what was going on until i was up close, and the police boat stayed a fair way away, not even saying something on the vhf. only pics of the aircraft were actually taken during the exercise, as i thought takin pics of the chaps wouldn't be apptoved of. The ship just happened to get in the frame.


[Edited on 4-6-2004 by minimi]

They not S.B.S there members of the Royal Marine Comacchio Group.All ships and oil Plateforms under British Flag has been reconnoitered by the unit.The group is based in Abroath and currently numbers 500 officers and men under the command of the major general Royal Marines training,reserve and Special Forces his headquarters are in Estney,Hampshire.There pref is similar to the S.A.S HRT that they are part of the unit but with a scope outside of normal military operations.The S.B.S are only used for Military purposes.The role of Comacchio is used when the civil authorities pass control in a Terrorist incident.

Thanks for that weirdo. I had assumed they were SBS as they appeared to be RM special forces. It seems my CT hunch was right, even though they weren't sbs after all. Thanks!

[Edited on 4-6-2004 by minimi]

Minimi

I am no expert but they seem to fit there brief.Nice photo`s though good to see stuff than reading peoples observations

Well, I was just out sailing and had a camera handy. Keep a look if you're in Portsmouth ATS members, you may just see something interesting.In 2 days i saw a CT exercise, ice ship endurance departing and the fleet of UK,US and canadian warships prepping for the D-day anniversary.

Think any of these would make good banners for ATS?

i live in portsmouth minimi. maybe this was something for d-day? they tend to do major and secret opperations at night. i'm in the southsea area so i get woken up around six am (i'm a very lite sleeper) by choppers. sometimes they hover less then 100 ft above the ground for up to half an hour. another thought maybe the sea king was rescueing the sailors because they had broken down!

Originally posted by come bite me
another thought maybe the sea king was rescueing the sailors because they had broken down!

They definitely weren't doing this. The ship was permanantly moored at the admiralty buoy, and if you look closely at the pics, you may be able to see the permanant staircase welded onto the side of the ship.

maybe this was something for d-day?

I don't think so, it seemed like a routine exercise, rather than anything special like all the landing craft and extra ships getting ready to go to normandy.

i get woken up around six am (i'm a very lite sleeper) by choppers

Yeah, there seemed to be heavy helicopter activity practically all the time.

I get a 404 error for all of the pics.

Originally posted by Flyer
I get a 404 error for all of the pics.

Same here

Yup, 404 error. Shame, I could look at them yesterday. Ah well, better wait for the knock at the door in the middle of the night then.


zero lift

The pics have been deleted from the image hosting site. My companion from the boating trip felt uncomfortable about having them posted on the web (he lurks on ATS too).He was worried aboutany consequences that may arise, so wasnt overly happy. I acted on his wishes. I don't feel like posting them again, so U2U me if you want any. Please don't post in public places, forums, websites etc.

regards; minimi

i'm pretty woried about this. i don't mind it happening in the middle of the atlantic but in my back gardens a bit worrying.