Colin Clarke – First UK warship in Portsmouth, USA for a long time

I certainly remember going to … one of the, I suppose thinking back, so after the Gulf War of 1991, I was on HMS Osiris, and we did a bit of that, we went to the Falklands, we came back via the Caribbean, and our last Port of call was Portsmouth, New Hampshire,

And we were the first UK Warship … you know whether you’re a submarine or a ship, you’re still a UK Warship, to visit Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for many a year and we had a host submarine ‘cos they refit the American Los Angeles Class submarines in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and they just laid so much on for us.

You know, we were met by their sort of Welcoming Committee, and it was quite difficult at times to have to say, “Now look, I’ve had enough drink now, can I have a day off please?” and that sort of thing, so yeah, it was really good.