HMS Walney, a Sandown Class Single Role Minehunter returns to port on Saturday afternoon to allow her crew a rest period. The minehunter has spent the week surveying an area off the Eddystone. Walney spent last weekend in Falmouth where, according her commanding officer Lt Commander Jon Beadsmore, his crew enjoyed a fantastic few days exploring the area.

Jon, who joined the Royal Navy in 1985 under the University Cadetship scheme, gained an Honours degree in Physics from Imperial College. He has seen service in the destroyers Edinburgh, Liverpool and Nottingham where Jon was boarding officer during the UN embargo operations in support of peace in the former Yugoslavia.

Taking his experience as navigator, Principle Warfare Officer and Fighter Controller ashore in 2001 the joined the staff of Flag Officer Sea Training in Plymouth where he was part of a team that put British and Nato warships through their paces.

Walney is built of glass reinforced plastic and is the second ship to carry the name in the Royal Navy. The previous Walney was a 2,000 ton Gun Boat built in 1930 and transferred to Britain for the war effort in 1941.

She immediately saw action in the Atlantic between 1941 and 1942 where she won the Atlantic Battle Honour. Walney was sunk with heavy loss of life in one of the most hazardous naval operations of the war; the assault of Oran harbour in November 1942. Walney and her sister ship Hartland were carrying commandoes and American shock troops whose task was to capture the harbour. The ships came under heavy fire from a destroyer and shore batteries. Both ships were sunk with heavy loss of life but not before Walney sank the destroyer. Her commanding officer Captain Frederic Thorton Peters was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action.