In
the great cabin of the world’s oldest commissioned warship, HMS
Victory, Admiral Zambellas formally handed over command of more than
30,000 men and women, nearly 90 warships, nuclear submarines and support
vessels, the helicopters and jets of the Fleet Air Arm and the elite
Naval infantry of the Royal Marines to the man who has overseen the
day-to-day operations of the Royal Navy since 2013 as its Fleet Commander.
During his three-year spell in charge, Admiral Jones will oversee the
aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth’s entry into service. Her
sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, will begin sea trials and the world’s
most advanced fifth generation jet aircraft, the F-35B Joint Strike
Fighter, will operate from a Royal Navy ship for the first time.
In a sign of the high regard with which the Royal Navy is viewed internationally,
the ceremony was attended by the head of the US Navy, Admiral John Richardson,
and US Coast Guard, Admiral Paul Zukunft, and France’s Senior
Naval officer, Admiral Bernard Rogel.
Admiral Jones joined the Navy in 1978, saw action in the Falklands Conflict
aboard HMS Fearless – he’s one of the few veterans of the
1982 conflict still in the Service – and commanded the frigates
HMS Beaver and HMS Coventry. |
