ROYAL YACHTS ARRIVAL

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28150, 13 December 1956, Page 20

ROYAL YACHTS ARRIVAL

ARRANGEMENTS AT LYTTELTON

PLANS FOR ENTERTAINING OFFICERS AND CREW

H.M.S. Britannia, the Royal Yacht in which the Duke of Edinburgh is making most of his present tour, will arrive at Lyttelton at 10 a.m. on Saturday. She will berth first at the oiling jetty, and at 11 a.m. at No. 4 west.

The Flag Officer, Royal Yachts (Vice-Admiral Sir Connoly Abel Smith), will be the first ashore, and will pay official calls on the Lyttelton Harbour Board, the Mayor of Lyttelton (Mr F. G. Briggs) and the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr R. M. Macfarlane, M.P.). He will also meet the Chief of the New Zealand Naval Staff (Rear-Admiral J. E. H. Mcßeath) in H.M.N.Z.S. Pukaki, one of the two frigates escorting the Britannia. Rear-Admiral Mcßeath and the commanding officers of the frigates, Commander R. T. Hale (Pukaki) and Lieutenant-Commander W. J. Brown (Hawea), will be the .first to return the calls in the afternoon. Later, hiads of the armed services in Christchurch, the Mayors of Lyttelton and Christchurch and the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr W. P. Glue) will make return calls in the Britannia.

The Fiag Officer and officers of the Royal Yacht will be entertained by the Harbour Board at a reception .in Christchurch at 6 p.m.

Also on the Saturday evening there will be a dance in H.M.N.Z.S. Pegasus for 200 ratings of the Royal Yacht and the escorting frigates. A dinner party has been arranged for 12 officers by the Middle Watch of the Navy League. On Sunday, a ship’s team from the Britannia will play a cricket match with a team of Suburban Cricket Association officers..

Detachments from the New Zealand frigates, and from the New Zealand Antarctic expedition’s ship. H.M.N.Z.S. Endeavour, will travel to Christchurch in the afternoon fo.? - wreath-laying ceremony at the Scott statue and a special service in the Christchurch Cathedral. The Victoria League will provide cars in the afternoon for a sightseeing trip by officers of the Britannia, and the Christchurch City Council has arranged for buses to take 60 ratings sightseeing. At 3 p.m. there will be an Association football match against the Atlantis team at Lyttelton. The Victoria League will hold a dinner-dance for 20 officers on the Sunday evening.