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He said: "I was determined that Grafton's very last act in the Royal Navy would be a
visit to Ipswich. The affiliation with the town has been very special throughout the nine years that the Ship has been in commission and I wanted to mark this relationship with a final good-bye before we pass her on to Chile.

HMS Grafton 2005, by Sylvia Symonds

"The Ship has recently taken centre stage at the London International Boat Show, so we are very much looking forward to seeing all our friends in Ipswich and bidding them
an informal farewell."

Presentation

During the visit, the Ship's bell and a name board will be formally presented to the Mayor as a permanent reminder of the very special links between HMS Grafton and the Borough of Ipswich.

Decommissioning

Following the decision to decommission HMS Grafton, last year there was an official farewell visit to Ipswich with associated ceremonies.

Arriving in Ipswich 2005, Sylvia Symonds

As she approaches her final few weeks in the Royal Navy, an opportunity became available for her very last port visit to be to her affiliated town, before returning to Portsmouth for the final alongside on Tuesday 24th January.

A decommissioning ceremony for HMS Grafton will be held in HM Naval Base Portsmouth on 10th March 2006.听听 She will then be decommissioned on 31st March 2006.

History

• HMS Grafton was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 5th November 1994 and formally entered service in 1996 as the eighth ship to bear the name.
  
• HMS Grafton is the 12th Type 23 Frigate to enter service in the Royal Navy and was built by Yarrows Shipbuilders, now part of BAE Marine, on the River Clyde in Scotland.
  
• The current HMS Grafton, part of the Portsmouth Flotilla, has enjoyed a typically active programme for this class of ship.
  
• As a mainstay of the Royal Navy's surface fleet, Grafton has visited the Caribbean, the Baltic, The Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Far East. She
  has also conducted exercises with French and NATO taskgroups.

ARE YOU TAKING PHOTOS OF HMS GRAFTON'S FINAL VISIT?听 IF SO, SEND THEM TO OUR 'LAST FAREWELL' GALLERY:听 suffolk@bbc.co.uk