Reflective and thoughtful memories of HMS Ocean after former Royal Navy flagship was sold to Brazil - pictures

The Landing Platform Helicopter was a former flagship and designed for amphibious landing operations. She could deploy alongside Royal Marines Commandos while being supported by landing craft and aircraft.

Her 19-year career was extensive. She was commissioned on September 30, 1998, after being named at Barrow by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1995. Alongside her amphibious duties, the vessel was capable of limited anti-submarine warfare activities, while also acting as a base facility for embarked forces such as counter terrorism units.

One of her first deployments was in 2000, where she supported Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone alongside HMS Illustrious - suppressing rebel activity. She was the flagship of a large Royal Navy taskforce in 2003 during Operation Telic during the Iraq War. The warship was awarded a new battle honour “Al Faw 2003”.

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Following a refit, HMS Ocean took part in various operations in 2009 including Taurus 09 and Exercise Bersama Shield. After extensive drills and being a major part of UK forces, she was named as the Royal Navy flagship in June 2015.

She completed her inaugural Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (JEF(M)) Task Group deployment in September 2016, mostly taking place East of Suez. Between 2016 and 2017 on various operations, she travelled 23,000 miles and visited 11 countries - providing a platform for six British ambassadors and High Commissioners while housing 1,150 personnel.

She would then proceed to aid British Overseas Territories following Hurricane Irma and Maria in the Caribbean. An emotional decommissioning ceremony took place at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth in 2018. The late Queen Elizabeth II attended the service alongside former members of the ship’s company and other dignitaries.

Brazil began negotiations to purchase HMS Ocean in 2017 for £84.3m. She was commissioned as NAM Atlântico after being bought, and will be bolstered by HMS Bulwark and possibly HMS Albion soon.