Aberdeen’s very own Royal Navy warship delivered a gift package from her Norwegian twin city to her Lord Provost on Saturday 20 February 2016.
The gifts from Stavanger were presented to the Lord Provost, Councillor George Adam, at Telford Jetty by Lieutenant Amy Bolland, who hails from Arbroath, in one of her final official duties as the ship’s Deputy Marine Engineer Officer. Amy is due to leave the ship on its return to Portsmouth.
The 8,000 tonne Type 45 destroyer had visited the Granite City’s twin, Stavanger, earlier in the week as part an intensive training package to prepare her for her next deployment later this year – including working with the Royal Navy’s new Wildcat attack helicopter and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
“Our affiliation to Aberdeen is very important to HMS Diamond and her 190 crew,” said Commander Marcus Hember, Captain of HMS Diamond.
“As a servant of Aberdeen, it was our honour to be able to play a small part in helping maintain this important economic and cultural connection between Scotland and Norway.”
Aberdeen has been twinned with Stavanger since 1990. In addition to their shared links to the oil and fishing industries, the Norwegian’s gift to Aberdeen is a Christmas tree each year which travels 312 miles from Rogaland region to be erected in the Castlegate.
HMS Diamond has been proudly affiliated to Aberdeen since she became operational in 2011.
The ship last visited Aberdeen in November 2015 coinciding with Armistice Day and the Ship’s Commanding Officer had the privilege of laying a wreath at the city’s cenotaph. Representatives from the ship also enjoyed being hosted by Aberdeen Football Club and the crew strengthened their links with Friends of Anchor, their affiliated charity.
During this visit some 3,000 local people took up the opportunity to visit the ship and find out more about what she does for the UK and her allies. Visitors heard from her crew and about their recent role in helping to rid Syria of chemical weapons, her previous deployment to the Mediterranean, and her recent overhaul where she was fitted with Harpoon anti-ship weapons amongst other upgrades.
