Midlands Report- Godiva's Warship
Tuesday
5 March, 7.30-8.00pm, BBC TWO (West Midlands)
*Available on non-digital BBC TWO through an aerial*
HMS
Coventry, the sixth ship to bear that name, ended its navy career
just before Christmas with a decommissioning ceremony. That in itself
was a momentous occasion, as the previous two ships were lost at
sea - one during the Second World War off Tobruk, and the other
sunk by Argentinean jets off the Falklands.
Peter
Wilson was on HMS Coventry during its last deployment in the Caribbean.
In Godiva’s Warship he talks to the ship’s Captain and
crew to find out what it means to serve on a ship bearing the name
of a city - indeed, a city from where many of the ship’s crew
actually come.
As
well as showing onboard activities from fire drills to the transfer
of fuel, there are sequences of the last voyage. This includes the
story of a successful capture of a drug-running "go-fast"
boat off the Belize coast, containing a haul of cocaine.
HMS
Coventry is a victim of the Navy’s strategic defence review.
There is even talk it may be sold to the Romanian Navy and become
the first ever UK ship to go to a former Communist state. It seems
unlikely that another ship could bear the Coventry name for several
years.
Undaunted
however, the Mayor of Coventry has formally announced a campaign
to lobby for the seventh HMS Coventry - and over 40 MPs are supporting
him.
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