2023 Coronation Fleet Review
By Tearless
Sir, – Plans for the 2023 Coronation Fleet Review are now being finalised and will shortly be published. However, I have it on good authority that the Prince of Wales will be towed south from Rosyth and will be anchored in her favourite spot off the Isle of Wight.
The Darings, all awaiting their new engines, will also be towed, from Portsmouth Dockyard, and anchored in line astern of the Prince of Wales. Rows of cardboard cut-out Jolly Jack Tars to man these ships sides for Cheer Ship are being manufactured in a recycling centre near Alton.
The Admiralty Board is still pondering which of the two Op- Deffed under-manned frigates it should spare. A still-airworthy Sea King from the Shuttlewoth Collection will represent the Fleet Air Arm.
The ‘booties’ are sending some spare RIBS from Poole. Foreign Navies will be represented by 20 of the 80 Iranian 4-man kamikaze torpedo/gunboats. There will be 7 Covid-filled cruise liners and 1 P&O car ferry, all Limassol registered.
And the Bembridge lifeboat. HM The King, HRH the Princess Royal, her husband, the CDS and the First Sea Lord, all clad in their right- shoulder aiguilletted sailor suits and each accompanied by their similarly clad but left-shoulder aiguilletted Flag Lieutenants will be embarked in an especially chartered Gosport Ferry.
Viewing of this maritime extravaganza may best be achieved, if lucky, through the windows of spray thrown up by the Isle of Wight hovercraft. Or, if from ashore, for just a few moments, at the summit of the roller-coaster at Billy Manning’s Funfair. It promises to be an unforgettable sight. Nothing-Out-Of-The-Way for toilets.
So that’s about it. No, just one more thing, the harridan who accosted me in Queen Street at the last Coronation Fleet Review in 1953 when I was a Boy Seaman in the RNVR, is now 97. She is looking forward to some more brisk trade.
