This year will see Chester’s warship HMS Albion taken out of active service forever. The former Royal Navy flagship, which is affiliated to the city but based in Plymouth, will be decommissioned in March.
Defence Secretary John Healey made the decision to axe the Albion, along with HMS Bulwark, as part of cost saving measures announced late last year. He said at the time that both ships had been “mothballed” with no likelihood of them ever returning to sea.
“There were no plans for either of these ships to go back to sea for nearly 10 years until they were due to be taken out of service,” said Mr Healey. “These were not ready to sail, these were not ready to fight, they were capabilities that can be covered elsewhere, and this will save us – every year – money that we can redeploy within defence to upgrade our forces and our technologies for the future.”
Back in February last year, Chester’s Labour MP Samantha Dixon said she was seeking “urgent clarification” after rumours surfaced over the Albion’s future under what was then a Conservative Government. She said in a letter to Grant Shapps, who was Defence Secretary at the time, that “the ship’s affiliation with Chester is not just a paper or ceremonial exercise”.
She added: “The two main corridors on HMS Albion are named after streets in Chester, with Chester street signs proudly displayed onboard. Chester is a proud military city, and we take our affiliations to units and ships of the UK armed forces seriously.”
The Albion was launched in March 2001 and was last at sea in 2023. It was granted the freedom of the city of Chester in 2003.
For the 22 years it was in service it was both an imposing amphibious warfare ship and a home away from home for 350 crew members. Defence Secretary Mr Healey confirmed no redundancies would be made as a result of the decommissioning.
NEWSLETTER: Sign up for CheshireLive email direct to your inbox here