HMS PRINCE OF WALES AFFILIATES

HMS PRINCE OF WALES AFFILIATES

The mutual benefits of the Royal Navy’s ship affiliation tradition are many and varied. Simon Michell reveals the network of affiliates that HMS Prince of Wales has already established.

I am delighted to announce that HMS Prince of Wales is now formally affiliated with the cities of Bristol and Liverpool, Greenwich Hospital, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, the Welsh Guards, the Royal Lancers and 27 Squadron Royal Air Force’. This official announcement of the first seven affiliates was made by the Ship’s Senior Officer, Capt Ian Groom, as the initial group was hosted by the Royal Navy (RN) at Rosyth dockyard in September 2016 on the ship’s inaugural ‘Affiliates Day’ celebrations. Groom, who eventually handed over command of the ship in September 2018, went on to thank the affiliates for attending, saying, ’These affiliations signify a major milestone in the life of the ship and mark the beginning of what will be long and fruitful relationships for the next 50 years’.

The Affiliate Tradition

All major RN ships have affiliations as part of a long tradition that binds their crews to the land via a network of relationships whose tentacles spread across the United Kingdom from shore to shore. The first seven affiliates, selected for the second-in-class aircraft carrier, highlight the range of organisations and establishments that are invited to become part of a ship’s extended family. They can encompass cities, hospital trusts, cadet units, army regiments and air force squadrons, as well as venerable city institutions such as the aforementioned Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

This 700-year old institution was, according to its Prime Warden, Mrs Judith Cobham-Lowe, incredibly honoured to be invited to become an affiliate. ’For us, it is a way of showing our support and gives us a connection with the great service which the armed forces provide. It also links us with a much larger world beyond the Square Mile. With over 90 percent of the nation’s trade coming and going by sea, this connection is important’.

Affiliation is clearly not a one-way street, as the prime warden points out: ’The benefits are mutual. Such an affiliation gives the ship and its crew a link to an ancient guild, steeped in an industry which still thrives today, in one of the great financial capitals in the world. It allows the RN’s purpose to be communicated to a wide-ranging and influential group of our members who come from all walks of life’. And, from the other perspective, the Lord Mayor of Bristol highlights one of the benefits he envisages: ‘By affiliating ourselves with this ship we are also helping to boost Bristol’s image around the world, and confirm our status as a city of international importance’.

The Welsh Guards were among the first seven affiliates of HMS Prince of Wales.

Common Copyright Photo

Since becoming affiliates, the process of establishing the relationships that will thrive over the next half century has begun. The Goldsmiths’ Deputy Clerk Nick Harland revealed that the former Senior Naval Officer and his Liaison Officer had been invited to various functions at Goldsmiths’ Hall and that the guild will be building the relationship through supporting the ship and its crew in a number of ways to assist in meeting those of their needs which cannot be provided from government funding. In a reciprocal gesture, guild members were invited to visit the ship whilst it was being built. Looking to the future, Nick Harland was very keen for the possibility of members sailing with her to experience life at sea.

For their part, the city affiliates, Bristol and Liverpool, are both anticipating huge crowds when the ship or its company visits them in appreciation of their affiliation. In fact, some of the crew have already visited the two cities. In June 2019, a 12-strong peloton of cyclists from the ship made stopovers in both Liverpool and Bristol during a 500-mile charity ride. With Bristol just 100 miles from their destination, they were invited to refuel at a sumptuous breakfast at City Hall as guests of the Lord Mayor and Lord Lieutenant. In the knowledge that food is never far away from a sailor’s thoughts, Bristol has designed a special crest for the vessel’s tableware to celebrate the union between the ship and the two cities. One of the South West’s longest standing creative agencies, Proctor + Stevenson, was invited by the HMS Prince of Wales City of Bristol Affiliation Board to contribute design services for the ship’s Flag Suite of crockery. Proctors designed a crest, combining elements of both Bristol and Liverpool’s city crests together with that of HMS Prince of Wales.

The current captain of HMS Prince of Wales, Capt Darren Houston, is a very enthusiastic fan of the affiliate concept, saying, ‘We are very lucky; we have got a great bunch of affiliates. We held affiliates days last year and early this year where we invited members of all our affiliates to come up to Rosyth and visit the ship. They have had their appetites whetted, and when we get to Portsmouth we will engage with them again. We will invite members to the commissioning, and of course, next year, we will have a variety of events that they can all get involved in. I can’t say when, but there are plans to take some of our affiliate members to sea’.

FORMAL CIVILIAN AFFILIATIONS

• The City of Bristol

• The City of Liverpool

• Greenwich Hospital Charity

• The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

• The Worshipful Company of Farriers

• The Honourable Company of Air Pilots

• The Worshipful Company of Engineers

FORMAL MILITARY AFFILIATIONS

• The Welsh Guards

• The Royal Lancers (QRLs and 9th/12th)

• 27 Sqn Royal Air Force

INFORMAL BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP

• HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse Survivors Association

• Worshipful Company of Distillers

• A1 Steam Locomotive Trust

• Wales Rugby Football Union

• IMarEST (sponsorship agreement, through life)

• Greenwich Sea Cadets