St Aloysius College scouts have been invited to the commissioning ceremony of the HMS Bulwark on April 28 at Devonport in Plymouth.

The HMS Bulwark has recently become patron ship of the Scout Group of St Aloysius College, whose former patron ship was the assault ship HMS Fearless, which on occasions took the scouts for several days on training exercises at sea.

At the commissioning ceremony, the scouts will be presenting to the ship a painting of HMS Bulwark by Edwin Galea.

After a five-week period of intensive sea training in the summer the HMS Bulwark, captained by J.H. Stanford, will become the Amphibious Flagship.

The HMS Bulwark and the HMS Albion have replaced HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid as the Royal Navy's most modern assault ships.

The two ships bear the names of aircraft carriers that were familiar sights in Grand Harbour between the 1950s and 1970s.

The two ships displace 18,500 tonnes, can operate helicopters, and besides their ship's company, can accommodate a commando brigade with all their transport and equipment, including tanks.

They can off-load landing craft from astern and also from davits on the side. Commodore Chris Parry, commander of the Amphibious Task Group, has remarked that amphibious operations are the most difficult of all to operate.

"In the past, the carriers have been the jewels in the Navy's crown and in future, I like to think that Albion and Bulwark will take that title," he said.