20 NAVY NEWS, MARCH 2011
● ‘Adieu, but not goodbye’... 800 Naval Air Squadron, 1(F) Sqn and IV(R) fi ll the hangar at RAF Wittering for their Colour Party
Continued from page 19
Royal Marine and Sea Cadets from Altrincham and Sale and Manchester (Trafalgar), this was the last time that sailors wearing the tally ‘HMS Manchester’ could parade through the city with bayonets fi xed, drums beating and colours fl ying, exercising their right as Freemen of the City. The freedom scroll,
decommissioning, it is her people that bring the ship to life and as the ship’s company move on to other units, the spirit of the ‘Mighty Manch’ will live on,” said the destroyer’s fi nal Commanding Offi cer, Cdr Rex Cox. “The ship has served the Royal
throughout the march, was returned by the destroyer’s last Commanding Offi cer, Cdr Rex Cox, to civic leaders for safekeeping – in the hope that one day the name Manchester is carried again by one of Her Majesty’s warships.
The destroyer herself can’t make it up the Manchester Ship Canal unlike smaller RN vessels; the bridges spanning the waterway are too low. The nearest she can berth is the
● The Royal Marines Band leads sailors from HMS Ark Royal on their farewell parade through the heart of Leeds
new cruise liner terminal in Liverpool (where oddly enough the weather was also grotty throughout the Type 42’s stay).
Many of the affi liations were given comprehensive fina tours, while the ship’s companyany hosted a last reception which closed with an exemplary dockside performance of Beat Retreat by the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland and a Ceremonial Sunset.
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Navy for 30 years and has a fi ne pedigree that includes seeing active service in the Gulf during Operation Granby; more recently she has been an integral part of counter narcotics operations and hurricane relief in the Caribbean.” A week after the fi nal entry, Manchester was formally decommissioned in a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base.
caps have paraded through the streets of Portsmouth. And Leeds.
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On the fi nal day of the visit to the North West, Manchester threw open her ‘doors’ to visitors; more than 2,600 members of the public shrugged off the gale force winds for a last look around.
With a name with such resonance as Ark’s, she will not go quietly into the night.
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ship’s company, led by the Band of HM Royal Marines and a Guard of Honour,
some
This was not quite the last time at sea for the ship. Having made her way south to her home port, Manchester – currently to be seen on Channel 5 on Mondays in Royal Navy: Caribbean Patrol – picked up loved ones and treated them to a ‘families day’ to thank them for their support down the years.
February 17, with 858,882 nautical miles on the clock, with one battle honour – Persian Gulf 1991 – to add to Norway, Spartivento, Arctic and Malta won by her forebears, the destroyer glided past Round Tower and into Portsmouth Harbour for the last time.
“Although Manchester is And then, at 3.35pm on Thursday
On the South Coast, some 200 members of the
In both cities – one bound with Ark Royal since World War 2, the other since the 1930s – thousands of people turned out to see the sailors from the ship with most famous name in today’s Royal Navy march for the fi nal time. O
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Portsmouth’s principal shopping streets before forming up in Guildhall Square.
Ark’s 25-year bond with the city was played out as a White Ensign from the former fl agship was presented to civic leaders, headed by Lord Mayor Cllr Paula Riches.
There the last act of the Mighty marched through
OR the last time in this generation sailors wearing the tally ‘HMS Ark Royal’ on their
women, past and present, and for those who have given their lives while serving in this great ship, we would like to say how much Portsmouth has meant to us. “There is a very close bond between
the Royal Navy and this great maritime city – Portsmouth is the navy and the men and women of Ark Royal are proud to call Portsmouth their home port.”
ship was announced in October, the carrier will not formally decommission until later this month and most of the ship’s company remain on board to help with the complex process of ‘de- storing’ a 20,000-ton warship. Before the magpies moved in to
begin removing items, thousands of people queued for a fi nal glimpse of the great carrier as the ship opened its gangways to wellwishers over two days. At their peak, the lines of people snaked around the dockyard and Hard for more than half a mile; there were even queues across the water in Gosport. Having brought the curtain down on association with Portsmouth, the next act was to say farewell to their affi liated city of Leeds, which has supported three generations of Ark Royals, going back to World War 2. A 160-strong contingent headed up the M1 for a series of farewell events which reached their climax with a freedom parade through the heart of the Yorkshire metropolis. Not that the Arks needed to go to Leeds to experience the depth of appreciation Yorkshiremen feel for the carrier.
Three of the square’s four sides, plus the balcony of the civic offi ces, were packed with people watching the ceremony. They heard an emotional address from Ark’s fi nal Commanding Offi cer, Capt Jerry Kyd:
“It is with equal measure of sadness and a whole lot of pride that I stand here before you as the last Commanding Offi cer of Ark Royal.
The sailors had been invited on to the pitch when Portsmouth hosted Championship rivals Leeds United at Fratton Park. Fans of both persuasions applauded the ship’s company, but the visiting supporters reminded the Pompey faithful: “They’re ours, not yours.” Such warmth was repeated in
were rather friendlier as sailors met numerous affi liates during their time
● (Below) HMS Manchester’s ship’s company exercise their Freedom of the City one fi nal time on a very rainy day (even wetter); and fi nally arriving in front of the town hall in Albert Square (drenched now)
Other encounters with locals Although the decision to axe his “On behalf of Ark Royal’s men and
Leeds. Well, mostly. A parking warden ticketed two ship’s company delivering ceremonial chairs to the city’s parish church.
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