THE Battle of the Atlantic  70th anniversary event in  Liverpool was a perfect  assignment for the Royal  Navy’s new Fleet  Commander.

Vice Admiral Philip Jones  was born in Wirral and grew  up in Bebington, as did his  wife Liz.

His dad, Edgar Jones,  worked a Cammell Laird, in  Birkenhead from the 1940s  until the late 1980s and was  involved in the construction of  many warships.

This included the Type 42  destroyers, one of which,  HMS Edinburgh, is making  her farewell public visit to the  shipyard’s Wet Basin over the  anniversary weekend 30 years  after being built  there.

Vice Admiral  Jones, 53, was a  pupil at  Birkenhead  School, where he  was in its naval  cadet training  corps, before being sponsored  to read geography at  Mansfield College, Oxford  University.

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Raft race, more ships and veterans' party conclude Battle of the Atlantic 70th anniversary commemorations

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Vice Admiral Jones said:  “Cammell Laird, Wirral  council and Liverpool council  have shown real vision  getting HMS Edinburgh in  Birkenhead for her final visit  to Merseyside.

“Edinburgh was the last  warship built in the yard and I  can’t believe how many  people have turned out to pay  their final respects to her.

“There are still men at  Cammell Laird who helped  construct Edinburgh and  really appreciate this visit.

“It’s fantastic to see Laird’s  is not only surviving but  thriving as a shipyard.

“Laird’s played a part in  why I made a career in the  Navy. I visited the yard many  times with my father and can  remember the Type 42s being  built – Birmingham,  Coventry,  Edinburgh and  Liverpool.”

After  Britannia Naval  College, at  Dartmouth, Vice  Admiral Jones  was a junior  officer on the  amphibious assault warship  HMS Fearless.

Soon he was part of the  Falklands war taskforce as a  sub lieutenant sailing in April  1982 to regain the islands after  the Argentinian invasion.

He said: “What I recall is  how extraordinarily well  people coped with the  challenge and performed way  beyond the level of  expectation due to sound  training and their personal  courage.

“I watched Argentinian  fighters fly past at eye-level  bombing us as we tried to put  as much lead into the sky as  we could to stop them.

“What I learned is that  conflict can occur at any time  and you must always be ready  for the unexpected.”

He later served as assistant  navigator on the Royal Yacht  Britannia and would converse  with Prince Philip on the  bridge during Scottish  Western Isles cruises. 

As commanding officer of  Type 22 frigate HMS Beaver,  he brought her into Liverpool  in May 1995 for the city’s 50th  anniversary of Victory in  Europe. 

Promoted to Fleet  Commander last November  his job is to provide ships,  submarines and aircraft ready  for any operations the British  Government needs.

He believes the Battle of the  Atlantic commemoration is of  huge importance to Britain’s  self-awareness.

“A lot of the lessons learnt  then are just as important  today.

“Apart from the intensity of  the conflict it was all about  keeping the UK trade routes  open, whether the threat is  obvious or subversive, which  can be difficult to predict.

“This weekend has been for  the veterans to be the centre-  piece, to have their heroism  captured for posterity and for  young sailors to understand  what they went through.”