The boats of the Gibraltar Squadron now have a new home, formally opened by Lady Johns, wife of Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns, the current Governor of Gibraltar and former Second Sea Lord.
The Old Boathouse is the new accommodation for the Navy’s Gibraltar unit of two patrol boats, HMS Scimitar and Sabre, and three Arctic RIBs, as well as the Gibraltar Defence Police’s Marine Unit.
The boats of the Gibraltar Squadron patrol throughout the year, keeping a watchful eye over the British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.
Lt Adam Stevenson, commanding officer of HMS Sabre, thanked the Government of Gibraltar for providing
“a fantastic new base from which to mount its patrols of territorial waters and its force protection of visiting RN ships.”
He also thanked Lady Johns for her sponsorship of the new base and invited her to become the first signatory of the Squadron’s new visitors’ book.
Sgt Bill Mellin, the longest-serving member of the police unit, and AB Kurtis Lyth, the youngest sailor in the Naval squadron, helped Lady Johns to cut a large cake celebrating the new home for both units.
And in a traditional moment in the ceremony, Lt Cdr Maurice Fitzgerald (Retd) – a former CO of the squadron some 20 years earlier – invited everyone to ‘up spirits’ and toast the new building with a tot of rum.
[mappress]
Source: royalnavy, August 4, 2011;