A Grandfather’s Curious Attachment to a Royal Navy Ensign and What It Stood For

Commentary

Artifacts have a way of reminding us who we are. Family relics handed from one generation to the next can acquire considerable sentimental value.

This may be why I developed a curious attachment to a Royal Navy Ensign from a unique British warship. The flag once flew proudly over the recently dismantled HMS Bristol, a Type 82 destroyer and the only vessel of her class ever to be built for the Royal Navy.

The Bristol was launched on June 30, 1969, and remained in service until Oct. 28, 2020. She had a long and distinguished history.

In the summer of 1982, when Great Britain resolved to rescue a small population of Falkland islanders from the grip of a South American military dictator, HMS Bristol led a Royal Navy group of reinforcement ships into the South Atlantic.

After the destroyer HMS Coventry was sunk on May 25, Bristol, alongside HMS Cardiff and HMS Exeter, carried on serving in an air warfare role. When the aircraft carrier Hermes returned to the UK, Bristol took over as flagship under the command of Vice Admiral Derek Reffell. She returned to the UK after being relieved by the carrier Illustrious.

Throughout the Falklands conflict, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had the full support of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In that era, British, Americans, and Canadians appeared to be inseparable.

A Great Ship Forgotten

In later years, HMS Bristol served as a training ship. When she was finally taken out of service there was a groundswell of public support to maintain her as a museum ship within the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, a Portsmouth, UK, city councillor, asserted that: “Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has got a Tudor ship in the Mary Rose, a Georgian ship in HMS Victory, it’s got a Victorian one in HMS Warrior – what it doesn’t have is a good-sized, grey metal ship to add to the collection.”

But despite public efforts to preserve the iconic ship, the UK Ministry of Defence sold her to a Turkish recycling company. In June 2024, the Bristol was removed from her Portsmouth mooring and towed off to be dismantled in Aliaga, Turkey.

A Family Relic in a Different Era

Many older folks in Atlantic Canada take a personal interest in naval history.

My own Newfoundland grandfather served in the Royal Navy during World War I. In World War II, my father served on Flower-class Corvettes used as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic. My mother served onshore in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS).

About a decade after World War II my mother’s sister married an American sailor. The couple settled in Hampton, Virginia, and they often invited me to spend great southern vacations mixing with their friends in the U.S. Navy.

During Cold War naval operations, HMS Bristol used to join other NATO ships at the U.S. base in Norfolk. On one visit, my uncle, who was then a Chief Petty Officer and Master-at-Arms on the guided missile cruiser USS California, decided to entertain several petty officers from the Bristol. I was vacationing there at the time and had the great pleasure of helping him host the British seamen.

The Brits treated us to a pint of “Courage Special Brew” in their mess, and my uncle invited them back to his family home for a traditional American barbecue. As a gesture of thanks for the hospitality, the Bristol’s petty officers presented my uncle with an enormous Royal Navy White Ensign.

It was a modest little event in the grand scheme of global relations, but from it I learned that ordinary members of the military could be both fierce defenders of freedom and ambassadors of goodwill for their respective nations.

Inherited relics can be fascinating reminders of shared experiences and cultural identity. Before my American uncle died, he passed the ensign on to me. And after I learned of the Bristol’s unfortunate demise, I passed it along to our daughter.

Today, we live in a very different era. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine anyone under the age of 40 being moved by the possession of a 45-year-old flag from a dismantled battleship.

Western schools and universities have become factories of division, resentment, and mediocrity. English-speaking graduates have been taught that their forefathers were all dreadful oppressors and there is nothing worth learning from them. Identity politics and unhinged self-promotion are the order of the day.

At a geopolitical level, our once formidable North Atlantic Alliance is in tatters. British and Canadian defence forces have shrunk, and the Peoples Republic of China is threatening to eclipse the power of the American military.

Between World War II and the present-day, the USA, Canada, and Great Britain developed one of the most formidable partnerships in world history. We shared a common history of democratic governance, military allegiance, economic cooperation, and cultural traditions. More recently, our personal and international relationships appear to have become entirely transactional. At almost every level of human endeavour, we are heading toward an uncertain future of “bowling alone.”

Reversing these trends could require turning the clock back some 40 years. We need to restore the conservative instincts, diplomatic customs, and genuine friendship that existed among us in the era of leaders like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Brian Mulroney.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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