Ocean waves farewell to UK Royal Navy service
The UK Royal Navy’s former helicopter carrier HMS Ocean was decommissioned in a ceremony at Devonport naval base on 27 March, bringing an end to 20 years of service.
However, the vessel will transfer into service with the Brazilian Navy, continuing a long tradition of warship sales between the UK and Brazil.
Previous vessel types that have moved between the two countries include the Type 21 frigates and a variant of what would become the River-class Batch II OPVs.
Brazil’s previous flattop São Paulo, formerly the French Navy carrier Foch, was decommissioned in 2017 after 54 years of combined service.
The sale of Ocean to Brazil was confirmed by the UK MoD this year in a deal worth around £84 million ($118 million).
Displacing around 21,000t the vessel, designated a landing platform helicopter (LPH), was built mainly to commercial standards, seeing service in the UK’s support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and 2011 aerial campaign against Libya.
A rotary wing flypast comprising Wildcat, Merlin, Sea King and Chinook helicopters marked the end of Ocean’s UK service, with the vessel scheduled to undergo a maintenance period before departure for Brazil by the end of the year.
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