Granting of Civic Honours to H.M.S. Ark Royal 25th October 1973
Granting of Civic Honours to H.M.S. Ark Royal
Photograph by Anthony Buckley Ltd HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER
CLARENCE HOUSE S. W.1 25th October, 1973. I wish to express my very sincere appreciation of the high honour which has been accorded to H.M.S. ARK ROYAL in the granting of the Freedom of Leeds. This honour will, I am certain, be greatly treasured by ARK ROYAL and will further strengthen the ties of friendship between the Ship's Company and the citizens of Leeds. ELIZABETH R Queen Mother. 3
Photograph by "Yorkshire Post" THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL THE LORD MAYOR OF LEEDS ( Alderman Kenneth Travis Davison) 4
CITY OF LEEDS TO THE CAPTAIN AND SHIP'S COMPANY OF HER MAJESTY'S SHIP ARK ROYAL GREETINGS... WE, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City and County Borough of Leeds, appreciating the traditions created by HER MAJESTY'S SHIP ARK ROYAL over many years of loyal and devoted service to our beloved Sovereign and Country and being desirous of recognising the long and close association between the City and the Ships ARK ROYAL DO BY THESE PRESENTS, in pursuance of a resolution passed unanimously by the City Council on Wednesday the Twenty-sixth day of April One thousand nine hundred and seventy-two, The Lord Mayor (Alderman John Trevor Verity Watson) in the Chair, confer upon HER MAJESTY'S SHIP ARK ROYAL THE FREEDOM OF ENTRY INTO THE CITY and thereby the privilege, honour and distinction of marching through the streets of the City on all ceremonial occasions with bayonets fixed, drums beating and Colours flying. IN WITNESS whereof we have caused the Common Seal of the City to be hereunto affixed this Twenty-fifth day of October One thousand nine hundred and seventy-three. Kenneth Travis Davison Lord Mayor N. C. Haslegrave Town Clerk
THE CAPTAIN OF H.M.S. ARK ROYAL (Captain A. D. Cassidi, Royal Navy) 6
H.M.S. ARK ROYAL Battle Honours 1586-1941 Armada 1588 Dardanelles Norway 1915 1940 S partivento 1940 M editerranean "Bismarck" 1940-1 1941 Malta Convoys 1941 7
The Parade Personnel from H.M.S. ARK ROYAL will parade in front of the Civic Hall. Parade Commander Commander J. F. W. Briggs Parade Second-in-Command Lieutenant Commander J. Mankerty Queen's Co/our Officer Lieutenant C. W. Pile, Royal Navy Guard Commander Lieutenant Commander R. D. T. Lampen Scroll Officer Lieutenant E. M. Hackett, Royal Navy Band The Combined Bands of the Commander-in-Chief Fleet and H.M.S. ARK ROYAL Director of Music Captain P. A. Sumner, L.R.A.M., A.R.C.M., p.d.m., R.M, Parade Instructor C.P.O. R. T. Parr 8
Order of Proceedings 11.05 a.m. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother arrives at the Civic Hall. Distinguished Guests leave the Civic Hall and take their positions i n the stands. 11.18 a.m. 11.19 a.m. The Queen's Colour for the Royal Navy will be marched on. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Leeds, The Captain of H.M.S. ARK ROYAL, The Town Clerk of Leeds, The Lord Mayor's Chaplain, Her Majesty's Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the City and County of York, The Lady in Waiting, The Private Secretary and The Equerry will take their positions on the dais. On reaching the dais, The Queen Mother will be received by a Royal Salute. The Guard Commander will invite Her Majesty to inspect the Guard. Her Majesty, attended by the Guard Commander, the Lord Mayor, the Captain of ARK ROYAL and the Queen Mother's Equerry, will inspect the Guard. The Lord Mayor's Chaplain will say prayers. The Lord Mayor will deliver an address of welcome to the Queen Mother. Queen Elizabeth will reply. The Lord Mayor will call upon the Town Clerk to read the Deed conferring the Freedom of Entry. The Town Clerk will read the Deed. The Lord Mayor will address the Parade, will hand the Deed to the Captain of H.M.S. ARK ROYAL and will invite him to sign the Roll of Freedom. The Captain will reply on behalf of H.M.S. ARK ROYAL. The Scroll Party will receive the Deed from the Captain of ARK ROYAL. The Parade will give a General Salute to the City. Aircraft from H.M.S. ARK ROYAL will fly past. The Parade Commander will ask permission of the Lord Mayor to exercise the right of freedom and permission of Her Majesty to march off. 9
The Parade will march off. The Combined Bands of the Commander-in-Chief Fleet and H.M.S. ARK ROYAL will play. The Ship's Company will march past, the Queen Mother and the Lord Mayor taking the Salute, and will march through the streets of the City with Colours flying, drums beating and bayonets fixed. The Queen Mother, Lord Mayor and Party will leave the dais and retire into the Civic Hall. 10
H.M.S. ARK ROYAL The present ARK ROYAL is the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to be so named. THE FIRST ARK ROYAL was built to the order of Sir Walter Raleigh and was launched at Deptford in 1588. She displaced 692 tons. As was common in Tudor times, The ARK bore also the name of the owner. Thus before being taken over by the Crown, she was commonly known as the ARK RALEIGH. After the transfer to the Crown, she was generally known as ARK ROYAL. On the accession of James I she was renamed ANNE ROYAL after James's Queen. In 1636 she was bilged on her own anchor and sunk; though raised and docked it was decided that she was beyond repair and she was broken up. 11
THE SECOND ARK ROYAL was being built as a merchant vessel at the outbreak of war in 1914. The vessel was purchased for the Royal Navy and altered to serve as a seaplane carrier. She was launched on 5th September 1914 and was of 6,900 tons displacement. She saw service mainly with the Mediterranean Fleet, helping in the Gallipoli landing and the bombardment of the Dardanelles. Following upon the announcement that the aircraft carrier of the 1934 programme would be named ARK ROYAL, the ship was renamed ' Pegasus'. As 'Pegasus' she served throughout the Second World War and was sold in 1946. THE THIRD ARK ROYAL, built by Cammell Laird, was laid down at Birkenhead on 16th September 1935, launched 13th April 1937 and commissioned 16th November 1938. She had a nominal displacement of 22,000 tons. She had a celebrated career in the Second World War and was repeatedly claimed as sunk by the Germans. She took part in the search for the'graf Spee' in the South Atlantic in 1939 and in 1940 took part in the Norwegian Campaign. Eventually she joined the famous Force H, based on Gibraltar, and took part in many successful operations including that which ended in the sinking of the ' Bismarck'. On 14th November 1941, having been torpedoed the previous afternoon by a submarine, the ARK ROYAL turned over and sank in sight of Gibraltar. THE FOURTH ARK ROYAL was laid down at Cammell Laird's yard at Birkenhead on 3rd May 1943 and was launched by Her Majesty the Queen on 3rd May 1950. She was commissioned into Her Majesty's Fleet on 22nd February 1955. It was appropriate that the fourth ARK ROYAL, which is fitted with an interim-angle deck, was first commanded by Captain D. R. F. Campbell, D.S.C., Royal Navy. He evolved the angled deck and also commanded No. 803 Naval Air Squadron which embarked on ARK ROYAL III at the outbreak of the Second World War. The principal dimensions of the ship are: overall length 810 feet; beam overall 158 feet; displacement 49,300 tons. 1 2
THE CITY OF LEEDS AND H.M.S. ARK ROYAL The association between Leeds and H.M.S. ARK ROYAL stems back to World War II and the third ARK ROYAL. During the war, various government sponsored campaigns were mounted to encourage people to save in support of the war effort. One of these was a series of "Warship Weeks" and that in Leeds was arranged for 30th January to 7th February 1942. On 4th November 1941, in anticipation of the week and to add objective and incentive to the campaign, the City of Leeds, through its National Savings Committee, decided to adopt H.M.S. ARK ROYAL. A target of 3 million was set. Ten days later, on 14th November, ARK ROYAL was sunk. Immediately the target was raised to 5 million. But such was the enthusiasm that 9,301,293 was invested (equivalent to a much greater sum at today's values). The enormity of such an effort is still quite bewildering - and how right that, even though other cities were anxious to adopt the next ARK ROYAL, the honour should remain with Leeds. Additional to the money invested, the Week produced such a fervent response that people queued at the Civic Hall throughout the week to hand in to the Lord Mayor's offices small personal and collective sums as gifts to the nation. These totalled more than 20,000. On 19th September 1942 the adoption became official when, at a ceremony i n Leeds attended by Lord Chatfield, Captain E. ELGOOD R.N. received the City of Leeds Coat of Arms and in return presented to the City the ARK ROYAL badge. The City of Leeds plaque commemorating the adoption can be seen on the quarterdeck of the Ship and the ARK ROYAL badge is displayed in the Banqueting Hall of the Civic Hall. Although formal adoption took place in 1942, it was several years before dream became reality for although the keel of the present ARK ROYAL was l aid in 1943, at that time the intended name was H.M.S. IRRESISTIBLE. Ma y 1950 witnessed the launching and naming of ARK ROYAL by H.M. the Queen (now Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) and the ceremony was attended by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Leeds (Alderman and Mrs. Norman D. Vine) and a group of 20 sea cadets from Leeds whose unit had adopted the name T.S. ARK ROYAL. Since the launching, visits to ARK ROYAL have been paid by a number of Lord Mayors and the Ship's Band and Sports Teams have paid return visits to the City. The Ship's Company has taken a particular interest in the Leeds Children's Holiday Camp at Silverdale and a representative is, whenever possible, present at the Camp for the annual Civic Visit. The Camp is proud to fly a Union flag presented and renewed annually by ARK ROYAL. 1 3