15 May 1982, Ascension

No flying today or for the next 5days.  I can't remember exactly why as it's just too long ago but it was about now that we arrived at Ascension Island.  Apart from flying there had been quite a few changes to the ship and our lifestyle as we headed south so I will use the next few days to cover some of these.

Ascension is British and just a couple of volcanic peaks sticking out of the Atlantic in the middle of absolutely nowhere but it became a massive military base because it had one major asset - a runway.  By the time we arrived it was relatively quiet although the RAF were starting to get busy with Nimrod and Hercules sorties.  However when the main Task Force were there it gave them an opportunity to rationalise all the ships stores.  Much had been loaded in a great hurry and was in the wrong ships.  Cross decking the stores here had been a godsend and allowed much of the right stuff to be put in the right place.  We did a fair amount as well but also took the opportunity to get ARFA serviced and clear of any major maintenance requirements.  We were entitled to go on to a war time servicing schedule but we decided to compromise in that we would keep up with as much peacetime servicing as well.

Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic.  A brief respite before we headed onwards.

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