HMS Arethusa a Leander Class Frigate was launched in 1963, commissioned into the Royal Navy in November 1965 and after twenty four years of active service worldwide, was de-commissioned in March 1989. She was the eighth ship to bear this name.
One of twenty-six Leander Class Frigates built for the Royal Navy, she was the last warship built on the Isle of Wight at the shipyards of John Samuel White & Son in Cowes, just above the chain ferry.
In 1989, following her de-commissioning, a group of former RN personnel who had served in her got together to form the “HMS Arethusa Association”. The Association has held twenty-six reunion gatherings in various parts of the UK, all of which have been attended by eighty to one hundred former crew, families and guests. Also represented in the Association were members of the 7th HMS Arethusa, a Cruiser in commission from 1935 to 1950, with meritorious service in the Second World War.
On the weekend of 2nd to 5th October 2015, HMS Arethusa Association is to hold its 27th, and final, reunion, on the Isle of Wight at The Melbourne Ardenlea Hotel, Shanklin, to commemorate fifty years of service by the ship and the Association. Following this, the Association will disband and carry on as a social group for those members remaining.
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Anyone who has been associated with this ship, either during the building, during her active service and the follow up Association is invited to attend this reunion.
Full details can be obtained from – Isle of Wight Tours Ltd., 3 New Road, Lake, Sandown, Isle of Wight, PO36 9 JN. Telephone: (01983) 405116. Email: [email protected]
Or – The Honorary Secretary, HMS Arethusa Association (Tom Sawyer) [email protected]