Ramsey Town Commissioners and the Royal Naval Association have hosted a reception to welcome the new commander of HMS Ramsey to the town.
Lieutenant-Commander Louise B Ray RN, commanding officer of the First Mines Countermeasures Squadron Crew 4, recently assumed command of the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Ramsey. The ship enjoys an affiliation with Ramsey and was granted the Freedom of Entry to the town in April 2010.
Crew 4 has recently returned from a deployment in the Baltic as part of a NATO task force.
Lieutenant-Commander Ray was welcomed to Ramsey town hall by Ramsey Town Commissioners’ chairman Andy Cowie and the president of the Ramsey branch of the Royal Naval Association Ken Johnson, who took the opportunity to present her with two framed photographs of earlier ships that had borne the name HMS Ramsey. In her reply Lieutenant-Commander Ray said it was ‘a privilege’ to have had the opportunity to visit Ramsey and the ship’s company had received ‘a very warm welcome’.
The reception also saw the rededication, attended by the Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney, of the ensign of HMS Ramsey presented to the town in 1945 and now located in Ramsey town hall.
In a short ceremony of blessing the Rev Dawn Mather spoke of how the ensign served as a means to recognise the heritage of the HMS Ramsey fleet and the sacrifice of those lost while serving on the first HMS Ramsey in 1915.
The blessing concluded, the Lieutenant Governor referred to the ‘cosmopolitan’ history of the three HMS Ramseys and said he was pleased that the deployment programme of the current HMS Ramsey had been able to include a visit ‘to its namesake town’.
The historic ensign is mounted in the town hall alongside two 100th anniversary commemorative poppies from the Tower of London presented to the town by Richard Radcliffe and Geoff Parry alongside the Community Covenant between Ramsey Town Commissioners and Ramsey Royal British Legion.
Photo - Lieutenant-Commander Louise B Ray, fourth left, and members of the company of HMS Ramsey, together with the Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney and Ramsey Town Commissioners’ chairman, Andy Cowie stand before the ensign of HMS Ramsey presented to the town in 1945. Picture Andrew Barton.
