The ship’s bell of HMS Ramsey has come ‘home’.

A ceremony was held in Ramsey town hall on Friday to mark the hand-over of the bell on permanent loan to the town.

The Royal Navy ship was de-commissioned in August 2021 after 21 years in service.

The bell is now displayed in a glass case in the town hall, where it joins the flag of an earlier ship of the same name.

The Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and Lady Lorimer attended the ceremony, which was hosted by Ramsey branch of the Royal Naval Association.

symbolic

Commodore Phil Waterhouse, naval regional commander, said he was delighted to be back in Ramsey to conclude some unfinished business from 12 months ago, namely seeing the ship’s bell, ‘the symbolic lifeblood of a ship’, being laid up in its namesake town.

He spoke of the importance to a ship’s company, like that of HMS Ramsey, of having civic affiliations, where recognition and pride is reflected back by the local authority and people of the town.

‘Thank you to the people of Ramsey and its RNA for looking after HMS Ramsey so well; hopefully the bell and name board will keep the ship in all our thoughts’, he said.

The Lieutenant Governor, who is a retired senior British Army officer, recalled seeing HMS Ramsey in the Gulf in 2008 when she was one of four Sandown-class minehunters.

He described them as ‘small ships with a fantastic capability’ and spoke of the ‘extraordinary impact’ these ships had and the importance of the role they played.

Of HMS Ramsey, he said: ‘She was a magnificent ship and contributed greatly to operations in the Gulf.’