Passenger ship gets navy escort

The Royal Navy is set to provide escorts to the Queen Elizabeth 2 passenger liner as she sails into and out of Liverpool this weekend.

HMS Pembroke, a Sandown-class minehunter vessel, the most manoeuvrable vessel in the Navy’s order of battle, will accompany the iconic ship from Bar Light to the city’s Cruise Liner Terminal on Saturday.

Cunard’s cruise liner is stopping off to coincide with the celebrations of the centenary of the Cunard Building and will set sail at 10.15pm against the backdrop of a fireworks display accompanied by HMS Archer, a P2000 vessel affiliated with Edinburgh University.

Among Saturday’s events will be performances by Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Band and Liverpool Welsh Choral and opera singer Danielle Thomas on the Pier Head from 2.30pm until 3.15pm and again from 9.30pm to 10.15pm.

Pembroke will berth at Canning Half-Tide Dock until Tuesday and will be open to members of the public from 11am until 4pm on Sunday.

The ship will host local schools and colleges on Monday as well as a familiarisation visit by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Jim Lovell said: “HMS Pembroke is returning to the UK after operating in the Baltic Sea with NATO, helping to provide maritime security in the region.

“During the deployment we managed to use our cutting edge mine hunting capabilities to find and dispose of sea mines laid in the World Wars and which still litter the Baltic.

“We’re extremely pleased to be visiting Liverpool, one of the great maritime cities and especially in celebration of Cunard. The Royal Navy has close ties with both Liverpool and Cunard and we look forward to escorting Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth liner in to the city.”