Some of them are very young and most have never seen a dead body before This will be a life-changing experience It will be for me too. I don’t know what to expect.”In a remarkable transformation, a lethal, frontline warship started to metamorphose into a benign ship of mercy. The Sea Wolf guided missiles were taken out of their loaders and stowed below; the powerful mini-guns on the port and starboard waists were dismantled as were the machine guns on the forecastle, the bridge wings and the flight deck The Lynx helicopter machine gun was replaced with a winch. “The crew are likely to see some terrible things and deal with true tragedy. But now, in the face of raw nature and its terrible power, every man and woman in the ship’s company was gripped by a grim determination to get back to work.Surgeon Lieutenant Alison Dewynter, the ship’s doctor, was reading up on infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid. She also downloaded an information sheet from Fleet headquarters: “How to Manage Dead Bodies in Disaster Situations”.”You never know with this job what you are going to be called to do,” she told me. I just hope we can make some sort of difference.”The Rev Tommy Goodwin, a cheery Scot and the ship’s chaplain, was gearing up as well.

“One day it’s dealing with a sore throat, the next it’s a heart attack and then something like this – but until we get there I don’t know what we will be required to do. But on this occasion there was not a single word from anyone. Everyone had seen graphic news coverage of the death and destruction wrought by the tsunami – the wrecked towns, the razed villages and the shattered lives of millions. On routine patrols in the Gulf it had been difficult to keep a clear perspective of how important the ship’s role was because the enemy was invisible and hard to identify. Off-duty sailors were allowed ashore but all hands had to be back on board by 1600hrs and ready to sail by 1800hrs. The promised days in Dubai had turned into mere hours.By 1600hrs on 30 December everyone was on board.

Usually, it is said, the British sailor is only happy if he has got something to complain about (it’s called “dripping” in the Navy) and foreshortened leave is always guaranteed to get his gander up. HMS Chatham would stay in Dubai just long enough to complete some basic maintenance and take on fresh stores, but would sail that evening. The ship was coming alongside in Dubai – a traditional favourite with the British sailor.
HMS Chatham, a Type-22 frigate, was one of a number of warships policing sea traffic approaching the Persian Gulf in an attempt to stop the smuggling of arms and people into Iraq. It was important work but monotonous so the prospect of “Doobers”, as Dubai is known in the Navy, had sustained the crew for weeks.Nobody had given a second thought to plate tectonics.