On a beautifully sunny June afternoon 29 members of the Gosport Submariner Association mustered in the Ship Anson for a quick pre-wet before their ‘tour & tot’ afternoon onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Met and assisted by Lisa and Sarah, who helped facilitate the visit, the Submariners were driven to the imposing pussers grey ‘target’ to be met by three Fellow Submariners, currently serving on the flagship. WO2 Dave Ham, WO(Logs) and his team provided a quick health and safety dit in the ‘hangar’ (think Amazon warehouse) before splitting the group into two and leading the groups through the main walkways and living quarters.

Whilst I think it’s fair to say that the visitors were blown away by the sheer size of the Ship, it was great to see our ageing Submariners rolling back the years and making light work of the ladders and walkways. There were many great photo opportunities taken by all, especially on the flight deck and within the Bridge. The highlight for many was the presentation of a ‘tot’ within the WO&SRs on completion of the tour, with our own ‘American Jon’ being presented with a Queen Elizabeth WO&SRs Mess Coin. Our member Colin Mould presented the President of the mess with a painting of the Queen Elizabeth which had been painted by Colin’s son from a photo of the aircraft carrier.

Many dits were exchanged and a fantastic time was had by all.

On completion of the visit, many members took up the opportunity to reconvene in the Ship Anson and enjoy the local hospitality. For all it was a visit that they will remember for a very long time.

If you are interested in joining the Gosport Branch of the Submariners Association please contact Ron Gordon at [email protected]