The Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, will be visiting Malta on Tuesday. Her return coincides with the conclusion of a twinning agreement between the ship and the Three Cities, which will formalise the close bond shared for over 60 years.
The present Illustrious bears the name, of course of the ship, whose entry into Grand Harbour in 1941, brought about the first massive attacks by the German Luftwaffe planes whose concentrated bombings practically levelled the Three Cities.
Of the twinning event, Commanding Officer, Captain Steve Chick said:
“It is a privilege for me to be able to come to Malta – which is widely regarded as Illustrious’ second home - and thank the Maltese people, and the Three Cities in particular, for the support they gave the last HMS Illustrious during the most trying of times. I hope that the events we’ve got planned during our stay will be a small indication of the unique bond that still exists between Illustrious and the Three Cities. The twinning ceremony itself is a first; no other Royal Navy ship has ever twinned with a town or city outside the UK.”
Asked what he was looking forward to most during the visit, Captain Chick commented: “It’s well known in the Royal Navy that the entry into Grand Harbour is something special to behold; I heard that the last time Illustrious visited there were thousands lining the harbour watching us come in. I hope that a similar number will be able to welcome us this time; we’ll certainly do our best to put on a good show. We will arrive in Grand Harbour at 10am, and we’ll be firing a three-gun salute in honour of the Three Cities.
Unfortunately, due to our short period alongside, we won’t be able to open the ship to visitors. We have offered invitations to as many specialised groups on board as we can, including Engineering Students, Officer Cadets and Sea Cadets.”
HMS Illustrious will also use this visit to deliver six army trucks recently acquired from the British Army.
HMS Illustrious will leave Malta on 29 February to continue with her ORION 08 deployment. The operation is a multi-national maritime Task Group centred on the Royal Navy strike aircraft carrier. Deploying from the UK to the Indian Ocean, the task group consists of more than 2,500 personnel, 13 ships, a nuclear powered submarine, Harrier jump jets, and Merlin and Lynx helicopters. The French, Spanish and US Navies are all contributing ships and aircraft to the group, which is under the Operational Control of the Royal Navy.