HMS Bulwark home for Christmas

The Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Bulwark, returned to her base port of Plymouth on 15 December from its amphibious and diplomacy deployment to a rapturous welcome.

After four months deployed to the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf on the amphibious exercise Cougar 14, 750 family and friends of the gathered to greet their loved ones in Devonport Naval Base.  

The waiting families waved welcome banners and sang along to festive tunes from the jetty with the band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines playing as the ship arrived.

HMS Bulwark’s commanding officer, Captain Dean Bassett thanked the families for their support back home. 

He said: “I am immensely proud of all HMS Bulwark has achieved during Cougar 14 and I wish to personally thank my ship’s company for their resilience, flexibility and the utmost professionalism that they have displayed throughout our deployment.”

He went on to say: “The deployment statistics paint an impressive picture of the benefit the Royal Navy’s deployed presence brings to defence but none of this capability is possible without the critically important support of our families and loved ones at home, for which we are extremely grateful”.