A BOY who learned to sail in a dinghy on the Clyde at the age of 10 returns to Glasgow this week as commander of the warship named after the city.
HMS Glasgow sails into the city on Wednesday to berth at Yorkhill Quay, captained by Commander Alasdair Ireland.
Commander Ireland, 36, who was educated in Dunoon, where he lives with his wife, Sheila, and two sons, said he and his crew were looking forward to coming back to Glasgow on the ship's first visit for two years.
Speaking from his vessel off the west coast, where it has been taking part in exercises involving 27 Nato craft, he said: ''I'm thrilled, because I'm semi-local and I've spent lots of time on the Clyde.''
He learned to sail with his father near Toward and took his dinghy all over the Clyde. In 1980, his school crew won the Scottish youth competition.
He said: ''Although the Navy in general, and commanding a warship in particular, is quite different from sailing a dinghy, there are remarkable similarities too, such as the continual exposure to the elements and the requirement to appreciate and respect them. But there are obviously big differences. Among my propulsions, I've got two gas turbines. We can go from zero to 30mph in a very short time.''
He remembers Glasgow as a great shipbuilding centre. ''I saw the QE2 getting built when I was three, and I have been on it since. The notion that we'll be passing the Clydeside where it was built and there are no ships being built there now, that's sad.''
During the destroyer's
five-day stay in Glasgow, the 220-strong crew will take part in Glasgow's Remembrance Day events in George Square and at Glasgow Cathedral.
Crew members will also be visiting the the ship's charities, including the children's ward at Yorkhill Hospital and Kelbourne School. Sporting events against the police are planned and a children's party will be held on board.
HMS Glasgow, the eighth ship to bear that name, was launched in 1976 at Swan Hunter's Wallsend yard.
The vessel, whose main armament is the Sea Dart
anti-air missile, is designed to provide air defence to a group of ships.
HMS Glasgow will be open to the public on Saturday November 11, from 1pm until 5pm.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article