September 2011 - The Battle of the Cook Strait: OPERATION STRAIT JACKET
By LT Layamon Bakewell, Commanding Officer HMNZS ROTOITI
During the early hours of 28 September 2011, the RNZN Fleet went to war in the Cook Strait. Blue Force, made up of Her Majesty New Zealand Ships ENDEAVOUR, TE MANA, OTAGO, CANTERBURY, TE KAHA and WELLINGTON, was tasked to escort elements of an amphibious assault force through the restricted waterways of the Cook Strait so they can reach point AA (a point north of the Cook Strait) by 0600 the next morning. On the other hand, the objective of the Orange Force Task Group (Her Majesty New Zealand’s Ships HAWEA, ROTOITI, TAUPO and PUKAKI) was to harass, delay and, if possible, destroy the amphibious task force before they reach point AA.
HMNZS ROTOITI in Cook Strait
The weekend prior to the serial, the Command Teams of ROTOITI and TAUPO began to formulate a plan. The challenge – how can four Lake-class Patrol Vessels (LCPVs) fight against almost the entire RNZN fleet? The strategy – play to our strengths. The LCPVs pride themselves on having exceptional RHIB Coxswains and highly capable Boarding Teams. However, we also realised that boarding a vessel underway in the middle of the Cook Strait unannounced, at night, was not going to be an easy task. Nevertheless, the Boarding Team was selected, and in the days leading up to the big event, they practiced boarding a vessel underway without the use of a pilot ladder. The Command Teams of ROTOITI and TAUPO considered every possible scenario and developed a substantial list of go and no go points. After all possible outcomes were considered and mitigated, it was now time to execute the plan, codenamed OPERATION STRAIT JACKET.
At 2330 on 27 September, ROTOITI launched her port sea boat with two members of the ship’s Boarding Team. On completion, ROT departed Wellington Harbour and the ship’s involvement in the night encounter exercise began. Once clear of the harbour limits, ROTOITI assumed command as Officer in Tactical Control (OTC) of the Orange Force. All units were ordered to switch off navigation lights, AIS and radar to make it difficult for the P3-K Orion to locate the ship’s position. For the rest of the night, the four LCPVs worked together to evade, distract and mislead the Blue Force TG and the P3-K.
At 0130, TAUPO exited Wellington Harbour and took station 200 yards astern of a Cook Strait Ferry. TAUPO kept station across the Cook Strait using nothing but night vision goggles. HAWEA was ordered to remain 20 miles to the southwest whilst PUKAKI remained inside Port Underwood to evade detection by the P3-K.
The focus of all actions was to divert the attention of the P3-K and ANZAC Operations Room and Bridge Teams to the west (and away from the RHIB exiting Wellington Harbour) so they would be under the illusion that the Orange Force Task Group was going to mount an attack from the Marlborough Sounds.
Under cover of darkness, ROTOITI’s RHIB departed Wellington Harbour at 0300 and was vectored towards the Blue Force position via cell phone. At 0415, the Boarding Officer reported that they had sighted an Offshore Patrol Vessel and would attempt to board her and wrest control of the bridge. The LCPVs were ordered to switch on all emitters, increase 20 knots and close Tory Channel in an attempt to divert the Blue Force’s attention towards the northwest.
At 0430 on 28 September, ROTOITI’s Boarding Officer (LT B.J.O. Martin, RNZN) reported that he had seized control of WELLINGTON’s Bridge and had altered her course with the intention of (for exercise) ramming CANTERBURY. WELLINGTON was under the command of ROTOITI’s Boarding Party for about 20 minutes before its Reaction Force fought back and regained control of the bridge. By then, damage had been done and the four patrol vessels could claim victory.
The night encounter exercise was an excellent serial which demonstrated that the LCPVs are extremely capable ships though they have limited weapons and sensors.