The head of the Royal Navy presented two service medals to personnel at HM Naval Base Clyde during a tour of Faslane and Coulport.

The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Jones, visited some of the thousands of sailors, submariners and Royal Marines at the base, together with the civil servants who support them.

Two personnel from Clyde were presented with medals by First Sea Lord during the visit, with MoD civil servant Mairi Stevenson awarded the Imperial Service Medal (ISM) and 43 Commando’s Lieutenant Colonel Pete Kemp RM being presented with a long service and good conduct medal with bar.

Mairi Stevenson, who recently retired from MoD Training at Clyde, picked up the ISM after 30 years of valuable service and for her important contribution to the work of the department. 

Lieutenant Colonel Kemp’s award was presented for 15 years of reckonable service and for meeting the highest possible standards.

During the visit Lady Elizabeth also headed to Helensburgh, where she toured Churchill Square’s Drumfork Club, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment, and met representatives from Royal Navy and Royal Marines Welfare and the Recruit for Spouses organisation.

Speaking to an assembled gathering of Naval Base personnel, Sir Philip thanked the group for their hard work, saying: “HM Naval Base Clyde knows what team work and partnership looks like.”

The Admiral also took time to highlight the frenetic pace of activity over the past 12 months, which have been dubbed “The Year of the Navy”.

“It has been an extraordinary year for the Navy,” he said. 

“We have signed the Crowsnest capability contract, named the first of a new batch of Off-Shore Patrol Vessels, rolled-out HMS Audacious, cut steel on the first Type 26, and, of course, welcomed HMS Queen Elizabeth to her new home in Portsmouth.

“But the focus on the Navy won’t stop on December 31. There is lots of activity ahead which is a sign of a change - a renewed focus on the maritime.”