The Royal Navy's newest warship, TAMAR, named in Scotstoun with English Sparkling wine

'it's another milestone in the progress of English and Cornish wines.  Who would have thought, thirty years ago, when we planted, that not only would Camel valley be used to launch one of Her Majesty’s ships, but that we would have a Royal Warrant to display on the bottle'  - Bob Lindo ex-RAF pilot and his wife Annie planted their first eight thousand vines in 1989.

Camel Valley's English sparkling wine was used to launch The Royal Navy's latest warship The Tamar. To find out more about the naming ceremony and the use of English sparkling wine in the launch we contacted Her Majesty's Navy. 

On Thursday 21 March the Royal Navy celebrated the official Naming Ceremony of TAMAR, the fourth River Class Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel (OPV) and used Camel Valley's English sparkling wine to mark the occasion. 

Held at BAE Systems’ Scotstoun shipyard, TAMAR - bedecked in bunting and banners - sat proudly in Dock 3 in front of around 400 employees and invited guests.

We were honoured to be joined on the day by the ship’s Sponsor, Lady Brigitte Peach and her family, the Minister for Defence Procurement, Stuart Andrew MP, Cdre Andrew Jordan RN, DE&S CEO Sir Simon Bollom and other distinguished guests.  

The 40 minute ceremony included speeches from David Shepherd, OPV Programme Director and Rear Admiral Paul Marshall, ACNS Ships Acquisition Programmes. Lady Peach, wife of Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach, also delivered an impassioned speech outlining what an honour it was to join BAE Systems on the Clyde for such an historic occasion and how the pride of the Naval Ships workforce has been clear to see when she’s visited her ship in build. Following the Lady Sponsor, HMNB Clyde Chaplain Reverend Mark Mander then took to the lectern, reciting The Naval Hymn, The Lord’s Prayer and The Naval Prayer.  

Lady Peach then stepped up to the podium and proudly named the 1,800 tonne, 90-metre-long vessel, TAMAR.

This time around it was a bottle of Cornish sparkling wine from Camel Valley Vineyard which was ceremoniously smashed against the ship's hull. At the same time, our two competition-winning flower children, five-year-old Leo Marshall and eight-year-old Samantha MacFarlane, stepped forward amidst much applause to present Lady Peach with two beautiful bouquets of flowers as the Royal Marines Band played us out.  

Following the ceremony, guests made their way to the nearby Tall Ship at Riverside to enjoy a post-event reception.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that we cut her first plate of steel back in December 2016. Now TAMAR is steadily moving through her outfitting stages in preparation for Sea Trials later this year. 

Her official naming ceremony is another key milestone for the OPV programme, but it also marks the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication by a proud and invested team right across BAE Systems Naval Ships, and our partners in Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the Royal Navy.

If you would like to find out more about Camel Valley and their English still and sparkling wines click this link.