(May 2001)
Chatham Navy Days 2001
The bank holiday weekend of the 26th, 27th and 28th of May will see the 2001 Chatham Navy Days. A total of eleven warships are expected to be in attendance, including seven vessels from the NATO Mine Countermeasures Force North. Also open to visitors are the World Naval Base's permanent attractions - World War II Destroyer Cavalier, Oberon class submarine Ocelot and the Victorian Sloop Gannet. The event will also include land and airborne displays, military bands and countless stalls and exhibitions.
The last true Navy Days at Chatham were cancelled due to the Falklands War in 1982. In 1984 the dockyard closed and the Royal Navy left, but the site has since been transformed into a major tourist attraction. The idea of Navy Days was resurrected and the first of these new, privately organised events was held in 1999 and has now become an annual fixture.
The vessels in attendance this year include:
(from
the Royal Navy)
- Duke
Class Type 23 Frigate HMS Kent (F78)
- Sandown
Class Minehunter HMS Walney (M104)
- Sandown
Class Minehunter HMS Cromer (M103) *
(from
the Royal Netherlands Navy)
- Oceanographic
Research Ship HMLNS Tydeman (A906)
- Alkmaar
Class Minehunter HMLNS Vlaardingen (M863) *
(from
the Belgian Navy)
- Coastal
Recovery Tug BNS Albatros.
- Command
& Support Ship BNS Godetia (A960) *
- Flower
Class Minehunter BNS Crocus (M917) *
(from
the Royal Danish Navy)
- Flyvefisken
Class Patrol Boat HDMS Hajen (P551) *
(from the
Norwegian Navy)
- Oksoy
Class Coastal Minehunter HNOMS Oksoy (M340) *
(from the
German Navy)
- Frankenthal
Class M/H FGS Bad Bevensen (M1063) *
( * members of NATO Mine Countermeasures Force North)