Hats Off to Naval Veteran - George Receives Visit from HMS Duncan Crew

Two Royal Navy sailors recently made a surprise visit to veteran George Gordon at his home in Kingswells, Aberdeen.

George, who is aged 90, served as Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy for 35 years. During this time George served on Type 14 Frigate HMS Duncan and he has been following the recent TV programme Warship: Life at Sea which is based on the new HMS Duncan, a sleek Type 45 Destroyer built on the Clyde.

While watching the documentary, George remarked that he liked the look of the baseball caps the crew were wearing. His daughter Sue decided to try and cheer her Dad up as he recently lost his wife and suffered a bout of covid. Sue got in touch with the local Navy Careers Office and asked if she could purchase one of the caps for her Dad.

Much to her surprise the ship decided to hand deliver the gift and sent two of their young officers to pay George a visit. Midshipmen Callum O’Neill and Alasdair Ager presented George with a framed print of the ship, an HMS Duncan cap tally as worn by sailors on the ship and of course the admired baseball cap, specially embroidered with the word ‘Veteran’ on the back.

The two young officers were delighted to bring the gifts to George and enjoyed listening to his tales of his time in the Royal Navy

“It was truly a pleasure to meet George and his family and hear some of his incredible stories of his time in the Navy, from having a half tot of Rum with Lord Mountbatten, being present at the last issue of the rum ration and the days of bedding down in hammocks.” said Midshipman Alasdair Ager

“It was great to see that the connection from serving in the armed forces spans across the generations and the lessons passed down from George certainly have their place in today’s Navy.”

Midshipman Callum O’Neill added “It was a really nice visit; George and his daughter Sue were over the moon and George was full of fantastic stories that we could have listened to all day”

George’s daughter Sue said: “Dad so enjoyed meeting the young officers Ali and Callum and comparing with them the changes over the last 70 years. It was good to hear the cheeky jokes and camaraderie carry on!”

“He is so proud of the gifts they brought. He’s a keen golfer, despite his age and although less physically able these days he will still be wearing the baseball cap in the ‘19th hole’ at his local club.

HMS Duncan is the sixth of the highly capable Type 45 air defence destroyers and one of the most advanced warships in the world. She sails with a ship's company in excess of 280 personnel and is based at Portsmouth Naval Base.