Royal Navy helicopters attended more than 350 incidents in 1979 and rescued more than 300 people, including major operations around the Fastnet disaster and a collapsed North Sea support platform. Overseas, HMS Fife and RFA Cherryleaf responded after a hurricane devastated Dominica. Their personnel restored communications and water, cleared the road to the airport, moved food and medical teams, and helped rebuild the hospital. The ships provided a self-contained source of transport, engineering, communications, and command when local systems had failed. Speed uses the mission to show how naval readiness creates goodwill and saves lives as well as preparing for combat.
Chapter · 2:40:57-2:42:25
Search and rescue and HMS Fife's Dominica relief mission
Domestic helicopter rescues and the hurricane-relief work of HMS Fife and RFA Cherryleaf demonstrate the Royal Navy's life-saving peacetime utility.