UK — Royal Marines train for naval base protection

Roy­al Marines from the Fleet Pro­tec­tion Group at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde took to the Gare­loch last week to prac­tise the boat for­ma­tions that make them one of the most feared fight­ing forces on land or sea.

Roy­al Marines from the Fleet Pro­tec­tion Group prac­tis­ing their boat for­ma­tions Source: Min­istry of Defence, UK Click to enlarge

The Fleet Pro­tec­tion Group, who are tasked with pro­tect­ing the ships and sub­marines along­side at the naval base, oper­ate a vari­ety of craft includ­ing off-shore raid­ing craft, twen­ty-eight-foot (8.5m) rigid inflat­able boats, Mk III rigid raid­ing craft, and even jet-skis. 

The dif­fer­ent ves­sels pro­vide the Roy­al Marines with a high degree of flex­i­bil­i­ty, mean­ing that they have the speed, pow­er and manoeu­vra­bil­i­ty to deal with any poten­tial threats on the water. 

The Fleet Pro­tec­tion Group was orig­i­nal­ly known as the Comac­chio Group and was formed in the 1980s as the only oper­a­tional Roy­al Marines unit out­side 3 Com­man­do Brigade. 

Today, the Group is over 500-strong and is made up of three rifle squadrons (O, R and S) plus a head­quar­ters squadron. 

As well as pro­tect­ing the ves­sels at Faslane, spe­cial­ly trained teams are reg­u­lar­ly deployed at short notice to help sup­port the Roy­al Navy around the globe. 

Tasks have includ­ed force pro­tec­tion in the Mid­dle East, the Far East and in Africa, as well as con­duct­ing non-com­pli­ant board­ing oper­a­tions to help enforce UN res­o­lu­tions in the Gulf. 

Roy­al Marines from the Group have most recent­ly been deployed on oper­a­tions in Iraq and the Gulf, pro­vid­ing spe­cial­ist teams to car­ry out board­ing and pro­tec­tion duties. 

Press release
Min­istry of Defence, UK 

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