“I hope that the English speaking community will give the ship a warm welcome”

“I hope that the English speaking community will give the ship a warm welcome” | MC3 Nathan T. Beard

Jason MoorePalma19/11/2021 10:33
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Let´s give her a warm Mallorca welcome. The flagship of the Royal Navy and the biggest ship ever to fly the white ensign is coming to Palma later this month. There are thousands of men and woman aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth who have been away from home for more than three months.

Their port visits in the Far East were hit by the pandemic which meant that they were unable to go ashore in Singapore and Tokyo. So their visit to Palma will be extra special.

The ship has already been in contact the Bulletin regarding a cricket match against a local team and other sporting events have also been organised.

Times have changed but it wasn't too long ago that British families on the island would extend an invitation to members of the crew for lunch or dinner.

I remember my parents invited a member of the crew of a visiting Royal Navy warship for lunch and I can still remember his face when he saw all the fresh vegetables and fruit after weeks at sea.

I don´t know whether security issues will allow invitations of this type to be extended but it will be nice if the English-speaking community on the island extended the same warm welcome they have always done to visiting Royal Navy ships. And it is not only the British.

Aboard the Queen Elizabeth there are a large number of U.S. Marines. I am sure that local businesses will also be excited at the prospect of a giant Royal Navy ship coming to Palma. Where she will moor is a different matter.