HMS Enterprise reflects on 20 years of adventure across the globe in a countdown to decommissioning
HMS Enterprise has turned to Twitter to reflect on some of the most memorable moments of her 20-year service, ahead of her scheduled decommissioning today.
The Devonport-based Echo class multi-role survey vessel has been posting stories on Twitter of some of her accomplishments and looking back at her adventures in a 'countdown to decommissioning'.
Among the 20 posts for 20 years, she has covered memories of the surveys she conducted in the Arctic, and her deployments to the Arabian Gulf and the Falklands and trips to Norway, the Med and Japan.
HMS Enterprise was notably deployed to Beirut in August 2020 after the explosion in Lebanon, which claimed the lives of 218 people.
She tweeted: "Right place at the right time syndrome struck again as we were first on the scene providing support to the local community after the horrific explosion in Beirut."
And, of course, Covid changed everything. Enterprise was "operating in the Asia Pacific when reports started surfacing of a respiratory virus in three regions".
"2020 was indeed an eventful year."
In 2015, HMS Enterprise was deployed with HMS Richmond to Libya to tackle people-smuggling operations in the Mediterranean.
She was part of the Royal Navy effort that rescued thousands of people from the hands of criminal gangs.
Enterprise worked closely during the operation with HMS Bulwark and Royal Navy Merlin helicopters to tackle the crisis.
In 2009, HMS Enterprise was put through her paces during Exercise Joint Warrior, a multi-national joint service exercise held every year between the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Nato and partner nations.
Exercise Joint Warrior is a UK-led multi-national exercise that takes place in spring and autumn each year over a two-week period, historically off the coast of North West Scotland but it has also been held in other parts of the world.
After the exercise, HMS Enterprise sailed to the west coast of Africa for other duties.
Marking 11 days to decommissioning, Enterprise's post says 2012 was the year of the London Olympics for most people, but for the vessel it meant "a return to the UK from the Falklands".
She said in her tweet: "The Caribbean was on the way so we cracked out a couple of surveys there. Why wouldn't you! After that, it was back to the Gulf."
Enterprise was deployed for the whole of 2007, "from West Africa conducting surveys of approaches to ports to route surveys in the hotly contested Arabian Gulf".
She noted in her tweet that the vessel's "versatility and ability to deploy for long periods was paying dividends" with the hashtag #goboldly.
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