On this day 19 June 2003

On this day 19 June 2003 HMS Albion was commissioned.

HMS ALBION was launched by The Princess Royal at Bae Systems in Barrow in Furness, 9 March 2001.

HMS Albion, along with her sister ship HMS Bulwark, is one of the Navy’s two amphibious assault ships. Her purpose is to deliver the punch of the Royal Marines ashore by air and by sea using landing craft from our cavernous loading dock – the ship can flood her stern to allow the boats in and out – and helicopters from the flight deck.

The ship is based in Devonport, the home of the Navy’s amphibious fleet. Its motto is ‘fortiter, fideliter, feliciter’ – ‘boldly, faithfully, successfully’.

There were 7 ships bearing the name Albion before the first carrier HMS Albion (R07) which was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier launched in 1947. She was converted into a commando carrier in 1962, sold in 1973, resold later that year and then broken up.