Bomb Alert in the Atlantic 1972
In 1972, an SAS Sergeant, along with men of the Royal Marine Special Boat Squadron, were parachuted into the Atlantic from an RAF Hercules in response to a bomb threat on the Queen Elizabeth 2, which was 1,000 miles from Britain.
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The SAS provided an Ammunition Technical Officer, who was not parachute trained and had to be given instruction en route. The four-man team jumped into a rough sea and were picked up by the liner's lifeboat. The SBS men had not been told that the ship involved was the QE2 until they were airborne. The ATO and Lieutenant Clifford, leading the SBS team, went to the ship's captain. The baggage was mustered and the two suitcases that could not be identified were dealt with by the ATO. The ransom money was delivered but not collected. |
Although the threat was later proved a hoax, the exercise provided valuable experience in inter-service cooperation as an RAF Nimrod provided secure and instant communications between the team and its British base.
After this operation, some ATOS were parachute-trained and the SBS kept a team on standby for future operations of this type.
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