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'Pon my oath, it's a pretty bawdy polly
MONDAY, February 21: Lock up your birds ... Sunny the parrot's coming home! Yes, the Royal Navy's rudest mascot will be heading back to Portsmouth.
Notorious for her lewd squawks, the African grey is HMS Lancaster's best-known crew member.
The bird had to find temporary quarters while the Type 23 frigate was undergoing a 10-month refit in Plymouth. But now she's back on her perch in the officers' wardroom as the ship sets sail for base port.
The vessel was due to arrive in Portsmouth this afternoon.
Lancaster has undergone an extensive upgrade and maintenance package in Devonport dockyard.
Sea trials have been completed and the commanding officer, Commander James Morley, is getting his sailors' seamanship and fighting drills up to speed, ready for operational duty.
At the end of June, the frigate – the first of her class equipped to carry the big Merlin helicopter – will line up for the Trafalgar 200 international fleet review in the Solent. Then she will take part in war games before joining Nato's rapid-reaction force.
Built at Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde, she is the sixth British warship named after the Duchy of Lancaster. She entered service in December 1991 and was commissioned on May 1, 1992 in a ceremony attended by the Queen.
She was to have been designated F232 – however, that pennant number was considered unlucky as it was the naval report form number for collisions or groundings. Instead, she was numbered F229.
Sunny also boasts her own official designation: RN Parrot No 1. She was lucky not to be court-martialled after letting loose a volley of four-letter words during a visit by navy top brass.
Although she was hidden in a cupboard, her colourful language was overheard by the fleet's commander- in-chief – who manfully ignored her and carried on briefing the crew.
Fortunately, she behaved im-peck-ably when the Queen and Prince Philip visited the ship in March last year.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
