The Last Commission:

On Passage and Exercise Display Determination

2-16 October 1978

Once the familiar sight of the Rock of Gibraltar was behind us, we headed off towards Sardinia and our part in Exercise Display Determination 1978. This NATO exercise had begun during September and along with forces from the USA, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Turkey we joined the other British warships that were already there. The aims of Display Determination were to exercise various plans for the defence of strategically important areas of the Mediterranean in a typical scenario of rising tension between the familiar Blue and Orange forces. Besides the ships of the participating countries taking an active role, there was much support from shore based aircraft and a lot of activity on the European land masses bordering the Mediterranean.

When ARK ROYAL joined the exercise on the 4^th October to the south west of Sardinia we found ourselves on the Orange side for a change.

 Throughout the exercise we moved from our operating area to another spending time off Sardinia, Sicily and Greece, with the aircraft  carrying out their usual roles and tasks.

On the 6^th we welcomed for the day CICMARIDI-PART, Admiral Baldini of the Italian Navy plus several NATO VIP’s. They came to see how we were faring and were impressed by what they saw 

During the early stages the Buccaneers made strikes against the Blue Convoy and the American carrier, USS FORRESTAL, as they tracked to the north of Corsica and then southwards through the Tyrrehenian Sea and eventually to Taranto in southern Italy. Then at 1600Z on the 8^th we changed sides, took on the colour blue, erected darken ship screens for a few days and headed across the Ionian Sea to be off Greece for two days. During this period we were joined by the USS J. F. KENNEDY and our Buccaneers flew sorties to this Aegean Sea to give air support to the amphibious assault landings that were taking place on the Greek coastal area of Strimonikos.

On the 10^th, Admiral Sir Henry Leach, CGB, Commander-in-Chief Fleet embarked, and he spent two days seeing and doing as much as he could in the time available and at all hours of the day and night. One of his first tasks was to give a hand to help stir the Christmas Pudding ably assisted by the Captain and the youngest sailor on board at the time, Junior Seaman Neil Jackson of the Side Party. The Admiral toured most departments and managed flights in some of the aircraft. When he left us on the afternoon of the 12^th he wished us “good luck on the last lap and beyond it when the team breaks up”.

Admiral Sir Henry Leach, CGB, Commander-in-Chief Fleet steers the Ark

ARK ROYAL’s final active role in an exercise took place off the coast of Sicily and at 1800Z on the 11^th October we bowed out of Display Determination. For the following few days we remained in the same area which enabled us to continue with some private flying. During this period the Badgers achieved the 2000^th fixed wing launch of this year when Squadron Leader R Joy and Flight Lieutenant P Huett were catapulted off the waist cat in a Buccaneer. By the evening of the 14^th all the aircraft were  safely on board and we all waited for a Sunday at sea on the 15^th October.

 This was because we had been promised a scenic route by courtesy of N-tours. The navigator had organised the route to Naples such that it took us through the narrow Straits of Messina which separates Sicily from the tow of Italy and then round the volcanic Acolin Islands which include Stromboli. Unfortunately on the day the haze prevented us from having clear views of the islands but it made a change being close to land. For the more energetic, flight deck sports were in full swing until mid afternoon when preparations began to arrange the aircraft for Procedure Alpha.

 Our entry into the Bay of Naples in the early afternoon haze of the 16^th was followed by ceremonial gun salutes from the ship and from ashore, and we berthed alongside the Molo Angioino just before 9am to begin our visit to Naples.

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