Royal Navy base in Fareham celebrates its 80th 'birthday' following coronavirus delays
CORONAVIRUS could not prevent sailors from celebrating the 80th birthday of a military training base this week.
A birthday bash was thrown at HMS Collingwood to mark the Fareham naval base’s latest milestone.
The site was commissioned on January 10, 1940, in a bid to train more frontline sailors to join the war effort.
Plans to mark the anniversary with a massive birthday celebration in May were scuppered due to the coronavirus outbreak.
But after months of delays, the military establishment finally managed to stage a spectacle honouring its 80-year history.
The event saw Rear Admiral Phil Hally, who heads up naval training, and 17-year-old Engineering Technician Brendan Overal, the youngest sailor, cutting a cake.
While the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, Collingwood, performed a rousing version of ‘Happy Birthday’.
Captain Catherine Jordan, Collingwood’s commanding officer, said: I am delighted that we have been able to hold this special “birthday” celebration today, marking an historic event in the establishment’s history while we work to modernise training further and put Collingwood and the maritime warfare school on a sustainable footing for another 80 years to continue to deliver first class sailors to front line operations.’
HMS Collingwood is the navy’s largest training establishment.
It focuses on honouring the warfare skills of sailors and officers.
It’s neighbour, HMS Sultan in Gosport, specialises in training the navy’s future generations of engineers.