Powered by fleet fuel oil and superheated steam
Home for three years but don't ask where she's been
For this armoured keel was laid in 1942
Since that time she has had many tasks to do
Showed the flag within the worlds ports
Courtesy visits as the diplomat she courts
Of cocktail parties to smooth diplomatic paths
A vital peacetime role that provided a few laughs
Deployed into arctic waters for the infamous cod war
Not a shot fired, but a few bumps she saw
Icelandic gunboats would ram and do their worst
If they could make a dent it would be the first
With six inch gun aft of the forecastle mast
The last one in our Navy for this is the past
Modern technology refitted within the stern
Housing the choppers with kerosene to burn
To the flag officer third flotilla this would become home
Anti-Submarine warfare as the seven seas she would roam
The "Snaky Blaky" as she was affectionately known
With expansion joints that weathered the worst sea foam
A professional Captain so the bridge never became frantic
As she would plough through the worst storms of the north Atlantic
To provide gunboat diplomacy she was occasionally required
Bringing peace to Madeira without a shot being fired
Now with passing time this fine "Old Lady" of the sea
Has become retired, just like me
Can hold her colours proudly for all to see
For never once did she fail, when she was home to me
