Montrose Sees Off Craft as
Tensions Rise in the Gulf
HMS Montrose underway earlier this year. (US NAVY/MCS 2ND CLASS TRISTIN BARTH)Actor Sir Ben Kingsley with Wg Cdr Paul
Farnes on July 7. (VIA THE BATTLE
OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL TRUST)6 http://www.britainatwar.comBRIEFING ROOM|News•Restoration•Discoveries•Events•Exhibitions from around the UK
AWARD-WINNING ACTOR Sir Ben
Kingsley CBE said a personal
‘thank you, sir’ to one of the
last of the Few at a parade
and service to mark the 79th
anniversary of the Battle of Britain
on Sunday July 7. The Oscar-
winner was attending the annual
Memorial Day at the National
Memorial to the Few on Kent’s
famous white cliffs when he met
100-year-old former Hurricane
pilot and Battle of Britain ace,
Wg Cdr Paul Farnes DFM.Sir Ben Kingsley’s
Thank You to the Few
ACCORDING TO the Ministry
of Defence, three Iranian naval
“boats” believed to belong to
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps – have attempted
to impede the British oil tanker,
British Heritage.
The craft intercepted the tanker
and tried to force the ship to
deviate course and stop inside
Iranian waters as it entered the
Strait of Hormuz. The Royal Navy’s
Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose,
however, had the tanker under
escort. A MOD spokesperson
described the harassing actions
of the small craft to be “contrary
to international law”, while Iranianmedia, quoting the Revolutionary
Guards’ Navy, denies these “claims
by American sources”.
Tensions with Iran have risen
as the UK has stated the
Middle Eastern country was
“almost certainly” responsible
for attacks on two oil tankers
in June, and on July 4 – at the
request of the government of
Gibraltar – Royal Marines assisted
Gibraltan authorities in boarding
another tanker, the Grace 1. It is
thought the ship was breaching
long-standing EU sanctions by
attempting to transport Iranian
crude oil to the Baniyas Refinery
in Syria. Iran claims – denied bythe British – that the seizure of
the vessel was illegal and piratical,
and an official threatened that Iran
is obliged through duty to seize a
British tanker “without hesitation”.
HMS Montrose reportedly put
herself between the Iranian craft
and British Heritage, verbally
warning the aggressors and
purportedly training her guns on
them. No shots – in anger or in
warning – were fired and the boats
backed down. At time of writing, the
Revolutionary Guards’ Navy denies
the incident took place.
The Royal Navy currently has
a frigate, an RFA craft and four
smaller vessels permanentlystationed in Bahrain, but defence
pundits suggest this strength will
not be enough should the crisis
escalate. In 2004 and again in
2007, the Revolutionary Guards’
Navy seized British naval RHIBs
and military personnel, on both
occasions claiming they strayed
into Iranian waters.
The swift action of Montrose
may have prevented a more
serious incident, but the question
of how to protect civilian vessels
transiting the Gulf is as pertinent
as ever.
A spokesperson for BP Shipping,
which owns the British Heritage,
has thanked the Royal Navy. ∎After chatting to the veteran,
Sir Ben commented: “It was
an immense privilege to express,
however modestly, my gratitude- our gratitude – to Paul and to
his brothers-in-arms for what they
prevented. Our world would have
been catastrophically different
were it not for the Few who
defended our skies in 1940.”
The annual event, organised
by the Battle of Britain Memorial
Trust, included a flypast and
display by two Spitfires from the
RAF Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight and music from the Central
Band of the RAF. The Memorial
Trust cares for the National
Memorial to the Few, which
stands on the clifftop at Capel-
le-Ferne, just outside Folkestone
in Kent. A striking visitor centre
in the shape of a Spitfire wing
was opened by Her Majesty The
Queen, accompanied by His Royal
Highness The Duke of Edinburgh,
in 2015.
http://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org ∎