A NEWTON Ferrers Royal Navy officer sailed his warship into Plymouth last week for a very rare visit.

Lieutenant commander Michael Carter Quinn, the commanding officer of HMS Bangor, stopped in the city on October 28 to take on fuel.

The visit provided Lt Cdr Carter Quinn with the opportunity to welcome his family and friends onboard.

Michael said: 'I was delighted to have the chance to bring HMS Bangor to Plymouth. When the opportunity was offered I jumped at it. To be able to have brought my ship to the River Yealm and into Plymouth is a huge privilege. It allowed me to show family and friends around the ship and for them to meet my superb ship's company.

'Our families are very much part of our team and our success depends on them, so it was wonderful to give them the experience of seeing us in what is our second home.'

Michael has lived in Newton Ferrers for the past five years with his wife Hannah, who was born in the village.

He took command of HMS Bangor, one of the Royal Navy's seven Sandown class mine hunters, based in Faslane, Scotland, in March.

He was not the only member of the wardroom who took advantage of the brief visit.

The ship's gunnery officer, Lieutenant Matthew Brown, also headed home to the South Hams.

Lt Brown attended Ivybridge Community College before studying architecture at Trent University.

This was the first time that he had sailed into his hometown port. Matthew said: 'Having joined HMS Bangor in February this year, this was probably the only chance to visit Devon in my first compliment appointment.

'I was massively excited about the visit and very lucky that my father was onboard to see me pilot the ship into my hometown.'