Tears of joy from families as HMS Defender captain praises ‘the very best crew’

EMOTIONAL sailors returning home after eight months at sea broke down in tears as they were reunited with their families in time for Christmas.

The jubilant men and women of HMS Defender raced down the gangway to embrace their loved ones during the ship’s homecoming at Portsmouth Naval Base.

The £1bn destroyer was the first of three ships – and hundreds of sailors – to return to the city after venturing to the Far East and back.

It was a moment that Lieutenant Kelly Jenkins-Hill had been dreaming of for months, having spent almost a year away from her husband Daniel and young daughter, Sophia, three.

She had been at sea with Diamond for an extra month before it joined HMS Queen Elizabeth on its seven-month odyssey to the Orient.

Kelly, of Gosport, said: ‘I was away for

Sophia’s birthday in August so it has been really emotional. I got to call in and sing happy birthday but it is hard when you miss those milestones in their little lives.

‘There were five mums on board and we would have a little mother’s meeting every now and then to support each other.’

For Daniel – who is also an officer in the Royal Navy – it was a chance to finally be a family again, having himself been deployed last year on HMS Kent.

He said: ‘I’m elated. It’s a nice end to the year. We can celebrate Christmas as a family. It’s the best Christmas present you could ask for, especially for Sophia. I’m actually 37 on Sunday, so this is a birthday and Christmas present wrapped into one for me.’

Hundreds of people crammed into the naval base to watch the return of Diamond in the largest spectacle of its kind at the base since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the eager crowds was little Nathan Hitchman of Chandlers Ford. The nine-year-old, accompanied by brother Julian, six, and mum Samantha was waiting for his dad, Warrant Officer Robert Hitchman to come home.

Nathan said: ‘I’m really excited to show daddy all my birthday presents because he was away for it.’ Samantha, 36, added: ‘We’re all so immensely proud of everyone on the ship.’

During Defender’s mission, the ship passed through three oceans and 13 seas.

The destroyer was also involved in a stand-off with the Russian navy after it sailed close to Crimea in June.

The Kremlin claimed warning shots were fired by Russian vessels at the ship as it passed through the contested part of the Black Sea – something Whitehall denied, claiming only a routine ‘gunnery exercise’ took place.

Commander Vince Owen, Defender’s captain, praised his crew for the ‘calm professionalism’ they displayed during the encounter.

He added: ‘This is the very best crew I have ever worked with. I couldn’t be more proud of every single one of them. They’re professional, dedicated and just give everything to the ship, the Royal Navy and the country.’

* Rate expressed as cases per 100,000 in the latest seven-day period. Calculated by the PA news agency based on Public Health England data. Arrow indicates increase/decrease on previous day’s figure.

** Number of new coronavirus cases confirmed in latest update on the government’s coronavirus dashboard yesterday.

*** The total number of cases confirmed during the pandemic. Data from the government’s coronavirus dashboard released yesterday.

**** Total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic of people who had a positive test result for COVID-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test.

■ QA Hospital information suppled by NHS England. Number of beds occupied by Covid patients on November 30. ■ For the latest information visit portsmouth.co.uk