Warship returns to 'adopted' port

HMS Grafton returns to Ipswich before going to Chile

A warship is to return to its "adopted" port on its last service voyage before being sold to South America.

HMS Grafton will visit Ipswich this week in her final days with the Royal Navy as the parting wish of her master Robert Bellfield, 40.

He is a former pupil of Farlingaye High School, Woodbridge and Framlingham College in Suffolk.

He said: "I was determined that HMS Grafton's very last act in the Royal Navy would be a visit to Ipswich."

The affiliation with the town has been very special throughout the nine years that the ship has been in commission and the commanding officer wanted to mark this relationship with a final good-bye before the ship went to Chile.

Mr Bellfield said: "We are very much looking forward to seeing all our friends in Ipswich and bidding them an informal farewell."

During the visit, the ship's bell and a name board will be formally presented to the Mayor of Ipswich as a permanent reminder of the special links between HMS Grafton and the borough.

The ship's home port since its commissioning was Portsmouth.