I came across the sad news of the passing of a man it was my pleasure and honour to serve with during my time in the Royal Navy

I was a crew member of HMS Alacrity when Commander Robert Mortlock was her first Commanding Officer in 1977

In particular one such early incident in the Alacrity's service was to run aground while leaving Plymouth, this only days after the Navy taking over the ship from the builders.

Being a Leading Mechanic on the Alacrity at the time it was soon discovered that a faulty valve control the rudder had failed causing the ship to not respond to the wheel.

Not wanting to suffer the the embarrassment of having to be towed of the offending sand bar, a replacement valve was found and myself and another stoker were dispatched to the lower reaches of the bilges of the Alacrity to undertake the repairs, and with specific instructions not to take long as the Captain wanted to be off the offending piece of land before low tide.

Despite having to crawl around in the bilge water we duly replaced the offending valve and the Alacrity was able to leave Plymouth without further incident.

That evening I received a message that I was to report to the Captains cabin for 7am, whereupon both myself and my stoker shipmate were thanked by Robert for our efforts and invited to partake in a couple of beers with the him.

I learnt more from that one simple show of appreciation about leadership than I have throughout my entire lifetime, he will always be the finest officer and gentleman I had the honour to serve with.

One small footnote:

Following the Plymouth incident the crew soon compiled a ships anthem that had the chorus of " Bobby Mortlock he walks on water" fitting tribute to a much respected and loved officer and gentleman.

Rest in Peace Sir

Leading Ordnance Electrical Mechanic - Nigel Hillyer