Camilla Duchess of Rothesay at the welcoming of HMS Astute (with adequate badge)Archived Message
Posted by Arthur on October 7, 2014, 7:31 pm
Yesterday (7th October 2014), Camilla, Duchess of Rothesay (as she is known in Scotland), took part in the welcoming ceremony of the Royal Navy submarine 'HMS Astute' at HM Naval Base Clyde, near Glasgow.
Nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute has just completed its first tour of duty and has spent the last eight months patrolling the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. Described by the Ministry of Defence as being 'more complex than a space shuttle', Astute is the first of the advanced Astute class submarines to go into service. Carried on board are 38 Spearfish heavy torpedoes and Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles, the latter with the capacity to hit targets with 450kg of high explosive from 1,240 miles away.
The Duchess, who holds the honorary title of Lady Sponsor of HMS Astute, has long been associated with the vessel and officially launched it in 2007. Camilla was also present for Astute's commissioning ceremony in 2010, when the submarine was officially given her 'HMS' prefix and welcomed into the Royal Navy.
For this ceremony, Camilla wore a badge that I could at first not identify precisely:
But this badge probably had to some relation with HMS Astute, as Camilla wore it also four years ago, in August 2010, during the commissioning ceremony of the submarine:
Finally, after a few research, I have found the emblem of HMS Astute, and it fits perfectly the badge worn by Camilla:
on October 7, 2014, 7:31 pm
