legacy Of course HMS Calpe was the softest option for the UK to take.’ Changes to the way the UK dealt with Naval Control of Shipping procedures meant that there was no future role for Calpe. Former Governor, Admiral Sir David Williams who once headed the Naval Home Command ‘was a great defender of HMS Calpe. Notification came through that the decision had been taken. I was then informed officially by the Governor here. I got the letter in December that we were being closed down in March the next year.’
Amalyn’s wedding, member of the unit
cises heleing to broaden the experiences gained by Calpe Officers and Ratings. Officers also saw service as Escort/Liaison Officers attached to visiting Delegations attending the Royal Navy Equipment Exhibitions at HMS Excellent. Being able to speak Spanish proved to be most useful and Calpe Officers were attached principally to Spanish speaking Nations. Socially, Calpe was a central point. Officers belonged to their own Ward Room as well as the Officer’s Mess at HMS Rooke. The Ratings had their own club and Senior Rates belonged to their own mess. Each year on or around the 18th November, the Unit organised a most successful “Ships Company Anniversary Ball” which in many ways marked the beginning of the Christmas Festive Season.
Tony, who joined the Unit in 1969, advanced through the ranks to Chief Petty Officer and was one of the first three members of the Unit to successfully attend the Admiralty Officer Selection Interviewing Board at HMS Sultan in 1977. The other two were Dennis Figueras and Charles Avellano. As Commanding Officer he was faced with the difficult and troublesome task of advising the Members of his Unit. ‘As you can imagine, the news though not unexpected, was not well received” he laments. Tony set about dealing with the complexities of closure and entered discussions with Colonel Hooper of the Gibraltar Regiment orchestrating the transfer of some of his ratings to the Regiment with whom Calpe had enjoyed very close ties. He adds with great satisfaction as a result, the Regiment was able to recruit female soldiers for the first time. To mark the closure, Calpe exercised their right to the Freedom of the City. A right that had been granted to the Unit by the then House of Assembly in 1981 to
mark 25 years service. The Unit decided to march the opposite route along Main Street, perhaps as a sign of protest. They received the Governor’s salute at the Convent and Mayor’s at the Piazza. Members of the Public lined the route in great numbers all the way down to Casemates and Market Place where it disbanded. Soon after the Calpe Association was formed and included in the Register of Naval Associations in the UK. Two years ago, Her Majesty The Queen approved Tony’s appointment as an Honorary Commander in the Maritime Reserves, the only Honorary Officer outside the UK, thus maintaining the steadfast Naval links between Gibraltar and the UK first cemented by HMS Calpe. ‘What we should ideally be doing is is trying to establish a framework whereby young men and women would once again be able to join the Maritime Reserves through Gibraltar. You can’t help feeling that had they not closed us down, HMS Calpe would’ve been so very useful to the Royal Navy and to the defence of the UK’s interests in and around Gibraltar.’ Employing just over a hundred local members of staff around the time of its closure, Calpe had significant economical and social standing on the Rock, and although there is limited information available online, and its not often talked about, the unit was a Gibraltarian institution. Check out the Anniversary Exhibition at the Fine Arts Gallery, in Casemates Square as from 16th November.
Unwelcome decommission The 1993 decommissioning of Calpe came as an incredible shock and disappointment to staff members, and Gibraltar at large. Tony Lima, recalls that as a result of a Defence Paper “Options for Change” a number of RNR units in the UK were disbanded. Calpe was spared by transferring it to ‘Fleet Command’ from ‘Home Command.’ ‘In other words,’ he explains, ‘they decided to treat Calpe as just another ship. Before we were directly controlled by the home command. It became very clear that the next time they were looking for cuts it was either disband HMS Calpe, cut down the services police or reduce the boat squadron, as it was called then. 34
Calpe exercises, The Freedom of the City, marking the closure of the unit, Yvette carrying the scroll GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2015