HMS Ark Royal
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The Last Commission: |
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| 1976 to 1978 | ||
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Passage to Gibraltar 28 October to 1 November 1977 |
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The ship was now on her way to Gibraltar and so we retracted our journey south across the Bay of Biscay and along the Portuguese Cost. En route we had time to relax and Sunday 30th was our first Sunday at Sea Routine for a number of weeks and many activities were reorganised. The 50 knot winds over the flight deck did not deter the contestant in the inter-part obstacle race. The competition was won by a team from B Unit in a time of 5 min 37 secs. Conker Contest: the conkers having been collected during the ship’s visit to Hamburg by the PT Staff. The first knock was between the Captain and the Commander in which the latter won but he did not progress beyond the next round. The knockout competition was eventually won by Band Corporal Tim Syme-Rumsby, and the successful event raised £12.50 for the ship’s charities |
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| Late in the afternoon on 2 deck the chefs started the Christmas celebrations with the ceremonial Christmas pudding stir. The Captain performed the honours, and real Pusser’s Rum, left over from the Jubilee Review “Splice the Mainbrace” was added by the then youngest man on board, JMEM David Grieve, with help from the galley staff |
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| Monday 31st October was our last night in the Atlantic, before the warmth of the Mediterranean, and the Band Concert on the Quarter Deck was well received. The Commander enjoyed himself, especially when he took over from Mr Welton and conducted the Royal Marine Orchestra |
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