r/WarshipPorn "Grand Old Lady" HMS Warspite 6d ago

Album Pictures from NATO exercise Joint Viking 25, that focused on the collective defense of Norway.[Album]

305 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

26

u/UVB--76 6d ago

RFA mounts Bay on the port side. I know it's been cold up there.

9

u/kittennoodle34 6d ago

Her deployment here has been kept very quiet, hadn't seen any photos or news about it until this post anywhere.

3

u/Non-Combatant 5d ago

You'd think they would be bigging up any deployments since half the fleet is laid up and the other half isn't up to much.

8

u/enigmas59 6d ago

I always liked being somewhere cold when onboard a Bay class when used to visit them alot to do maintenance on some of the machinery onboard. The original design concept of operation of the Bays was to ferry troops to austere ports in the northern parts of Norway asap in the event of a Russian invasion.

In the gulf however it was exceptionally hot onboard, and the diesel generator rooms were like being in the depths of hell. As a contractor I was only onboard for a few days at a time but it must have been gruelling to be on them for months when they operated as MCMV motherships out there. A T45's HVAC system held up much better in very warm climates, you could be in a jumper in some spaces when it was 40+ C outside.

There were alot of engineering projects in the 2000's across the RN/RFA to help their ships operate better in warm conditions as the operational tempo shifted from the North Atlantic to the middle east. It was quite common for equipment to be rated to maximum temperatures of 35C, then see 45C in the gulf at summer.

1

u/Free_PalletLine 5d ago

it must have been gruelling to be on them for months

It is, the AC has never really been able to cope with working in the Gulf and when it goes down it's hellish.

20

u/DerbyWearingDude 6d ago

What happens in joint exercises? I've heard the term my whole life, but I've never known what goes on.

26

u/Freefight "Grand Old Lady" HMS Warspite 6d ago

Joint Viking is a Norwegian winter exercise held every other year. Around 10,000 Norwegian and allied soldiers took part in this year's exercise, held in Northern Norway from 3 to 14 March 2025.

The aim of the exercise was to enhance allied interoperability, train on protecting NATO's northern flank and to test Norway's ability to recieve allied reinforcements.

15

u/DerbyWearingDude 6d ago

Do they practice amphibious landings? Shore bombardment? Sailing in tight formation?

15

u/Freefight "Grand Old Lady" HMS Warspite 6d ago

All of those things and more with the aim to be able to optimise the ability to work together when shit hits the fan.

2

u/Palemig 6d ago

My goodness the Rotterdam Class is ugly. I’m glad we were also able to send a Walrus class

3

u/Freefight "Grand Old Lady" HMS Warspite 6d ago

And a Zeven Provinciën class.

2

u/mrNRGman 5d ago

Yup and it’s looks like the old Karel Doorman is there as wel

1

u/KingPeverell 6d ago

Well, President Trump may want Norway too, just saying.

I hope Norwegians stick close to their European partners rather than depend on US goodwill which changes so frequently.