NATO Ships – Tālivaldis, EML Admiral Cowan, Hinnøy and Schiedam in West India Dock

After a fairly quiet spell in West India Dock, a small flotilla of six NATO ships berthed. HMS Grimsby (M108) and BNS Godetia ( A960 ) arrived this morning to be joined by the Latvian Navy ship Tālivaldis (M-60), the Estonian Navy ship EML Admiral Cowan (M313) , the Norwegian Navy ship Hinnøy (M343) and the Dutch Navy Ship Schiedam (M860).

Most of the ships are minesweepers and have recently taken part in Nato Exercises in the North Sea

The Tālivaldis built in the Netherlands in the 1980s like the Schiedam. They are known as Tripartite Minehunter because they were a joint venture of the navies of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the Tripartite class of minehunters were conceived in the 1970s and built in the 1980s.

The EML Admiral Cowan (M313) is a Sandown-class minehunter like the HMS Grimsby and was known formerly as the HMS Sandown before she was sold to the Estonian Navy in 2007.

The Norwegian ship Hinnøy (M343) is one of the Oksøy-class mine hunters which are a class of vessels of the Royal Norwegian Navy active since the mid-1990s.

These small flotilla’s have turned up in West India Dock over the last few years, quite often it is when they have just finished an exercise. They do not tend to be open to the public and with all the development on the area, most of the quayside is blocked off. However a good view of the ships can be had on the Canary Wharf side of the dock.

As usual, regular contributor  Eric Pemberton was quick off the mark, getting a few photographs of the ships entering the docks.

Photo Eric Pemberton

Photo Eric Pemberton

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