THE commander of the Barrow-built HMS Astute submarine said he was honoured to be visited by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
The visit marked the 10th anniversary of the boat's commissioning.
It is based at the HM Naval Base in Clyde, where the Duchess visited on Thursday.
As the Lady Sponsor of the Astute Class Submarine, Her Royal Highness also attended the commissioning at Faslane and visited again in 2014 when the submarine returned from her first operational deployment.
On her arrival at the Naval Base, Her Royal Highness met with the boat’s Commanding Officer, Commander David Crosby, who provided an operational update on HMS Astute before accompanying Her Royal Highness to the Naval Base’s giant Shiplift facility where the submarine is undergoing a period of planned maintenance.
Her Royal Highness also passed on her thanks to the families of the submariners for their ongoing support and finished off by saying: "As we look forward to the next ten years of Astute’s service, please know that, wherever you may be, I will be holding you all in my thoughts and prayers. I am certain that, just as you have always done, you will continue to carry out your duties with the pride that comes of being at the forefront of our Naval prowess. May you always return safely to harbour.”
Commander David Crosby, the commanding officer of HMS Astute said: “It is a great honour for me to show our Lady Sponsor her submarine and update Her Royal Highness on the recent challenges and successes of her crew and their families.
“HMS Astute, as the first of class, has been at the forefront of delivering the extremely capable Astute Class submarines into the Fleet for over a decade and I am delighted to have had the opportunity to discuss with Her Royal Highness our next operational period.
“Her Royal Highness, as our Lady Sponsor, has always paid close attention to our progress and regularly sends her gratitude to my crew, and as importantly, their families; to that end, it was a great honour to be granted this opportunity for my team to show their appreciation of her support."
Also based at Clyde are sister boats HMS Ambush, HMS Artful and HMS Audacious, with a further three boats under construction in Barrow's shipyard.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here