Somerset
nights
THIS is the spectacular
merely here to look pretty, however.
moment the 163rd Dartmouth
There were events on the water
Royal Regatta reached its
– notably gig racing – and off the
water – including a barrel run, trolley
stunning fi nale. dash and ‘don’t spill the beer’ race
It would have been unthinkable to – to take part in.
have staged a regatta in the spiritual The Somerset teams, we’re told,
home of the Senior Service’s officer “made a good fist of it”... but the
corps without a Royal Navy warship locals proved more adept at most
anchored in the River Dart. of the sporting events, not least
And so, as it has done through the because many spend the year
decades, the Royal Navy provided a practising for the regatta.
guardship for the maritime festival And while much of the ship’s
in the shape of the good ship primary functions were not required
Somerset, looking spick and span on the Dart, the operations room was
after her recent refit. a hive of activity every afternoon.
Tides in south Devon forced the The Black Cats, the RN’s Lynx
frigate to sail up the Dart relatively helicopter display team, opened the
early. festival, while displays by the RAF’s
Expecting a quiet arrival, the ship Typhoon fighter, Chinooks and the
instead was greeted by hundreds Red Arrows were performed in the
of locals lining the waterfront in Dartmouth skies; their actions were
Dartmouth and Kingswear. co-ordinated from Somerset.
Those who didn’t catch such a “Perhaps the lasting memory for
sight on a glorious late summer’s the tens of thousands of visitors
morn would certainly have known to this small town was the glorious
about it; the saluting gun responded sight of HMS Somerset forming
to a welcome from the Dartmouth the backdrop to the magnificent
Yacht Club by firing nine times, its firework display,” said Somerset’s
boom echoing around the narrow CO Cdr Rob Wilson.
confines of the Dart valley. “This was a visit none of the ship’s
Somerset dropped anchor mid- company will forget for a long time,
river but this proved no obstacle to chiefly because of the wonderfully
2,000 members of the public who warm and friendly welcome they
wished to view the Type 23 frigate; received from the public, who clearly
they were ferried across from the still have a place in their hearts for
quayside to enjoy free guided tours. today’s Royal Navy.”
The ship and her sailors were not
marina Ship of the month, page 12
Picture: LA(Phot) Dave Sterratt, FRPU West
019_NN_Oct.indd 1 19/9/07 16:35:53
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