White ensign comes down on 47 years service

[MikeJames]

The RN has hauled down the White Ensign on the destroyer Bristol, bringing to an end 47 years of service afloat and alongside.



Commissioned on 31 March 1973, and following a long career which included the Falklands War, she was converted into a training ship in 1987 and continues to serve in that role.

In 1991 while part of the Dartmouth training squadron, she suffered a Olympus gas turbine failure that damaged the power turbine.

The damage was beyond economical repair and no longer having enough value to be sold to another navy, she became a Harbour Training ship at HMS Excellent.



She was decommissioned in Portsmouth on October 28th 2020.