UDR and RN Joint Operations

The 3rd Battalion The Ulster Defence Regiment mounted the first of a series of operations with The Royal Navy. In conjunction with the Bird Class patrol vessel HMS Cygnet, and utilising their own fast boat teams, the Battalion searched twenty-one islands in Carlingford Lough.

The 3rd Battalion, with its long County Down shoreline, was experienced in such operations, as demonstrated in 1972, during a visit by Margaret Thatcher before she became Prime Minister.