ONE COULDN'T miss it from the ferry, as it sat there, grey and dull, across the water in the Butterworth Wharves, but to be honest the British Royal Navy's largest ship looked rather disappointing at first glance. However, as we approached the mainland, it loomed bigger ... and bigger ... and when we actually drove up to the side of it, it was BIG ... VERY BIG!
The HMS Ocean is apparently (according to Wikipedia) an Amphibious Assault Ship, aka Landing Platform Helicopter, and we were privileged to be one of the 200 guests invited to Commanding Officer Captain Simon King's Cocktail Reception on board. It was impressive, to say the least. And the hunky marines who stood by on guard with their rifles were HUGE ... or maybe I've just got used to seeing relatively smaller Asians in the past few years!
The massive hanger (lower) deck, which is used to store helicopters, was converted into a makeshift reception hall, and it was big enough to hold another thousand people in it! Gives you an idea of how big it was - there were several helicopters tucked away into the corner yet one didn't really see them.
Drinks flowed quite freely, making it a very convivial evening indeed.
It was a pleasure to meet the British Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Moody (there on my left in pix and the Captain in uniform), Rob Hawkins the Hon British Consul for Penang, and many other dignitaries including our very own Dato' Kee Phaik Cheen and her husband Dr Choong, Star bigwigs, erstwhile and current, et al. It was a veritable "who's who" of Penang.
UNFORTUNATELY the only thing which marred the event was the HEAT ... I had gone prepared to be cooled by the Butterworth evening breezes ... but there was little or no ventilation and definitely would have added ten notches to global warming to air condition the huge place, so we were all sweltering and rather sticky. There were many glowing faces I can tell you (including my own), and it wasn't just from the free-flow G&Ts!
However, it was a really pleasant evening, and great to see that, although no longer the maritime power it used to be during say Nelson's time (! - no, I'm not that old), Old Blighty is still a force to be reckoned with. And the "Flag Lowering" ceremony which was held at the end of the evening was a moving tribute to pomp and circumstance.
HMS Ocean will be there until the 23rd. If you get a chance to go and view it you should. The last time a British ship this size docked there was the HMS Invincible - 12 years ago.
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