Director invited by High Commissioner of India for HMS Hermes farewell ceremony

23/02/2017

Local businessman Andy Trish, and founding Director of NCI Technologies; an IT support company based in Penryn, has been invited by the High Commissioner of India along with thirteen other HMS Hermes veterans to attend the decommissioning ceremony of INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes) in Mumbai.

Named after the winged messenger of the Greek gods, HMS Hermes was the flagship of the British taskforce sent to the Falkland Islands just three days after the invasion in 1982 carrying with her 16 x Sea Harrier FRS 1, 5 X Sea King HAS 5, 5 X Sea King HC 4 and 10 x Sea Harrier GR 3 aircraft on-board.

She is the last of the Centaur class carriers and is the longest serving aircraft carrier in the world having served in the Royal Navy from 1959 to 1984, and then until 2017 with the Indian Navy where for over a decade she served as India’s only aircraft carrier operating in the Indian Ocean.

HMS Hermes became home to Andy when he was just 17 following a previous draft on-board HMS Invincible during flying trials. He spent his 19^th birthday at war having been given the news that the ship his brother was serving on (HMS Antelope) had been sunk, his brother survived and was brought back to the UK on the QE2.

He has continued his relationship with the Falkland Islands over the years and arranged the donation of many thousands of pounds of IT hardware to the schools across the islands. NCI Technologies also supplies the Falkland Islands Government with computer equipment.

Andy will be representing the HMS Hermes Association on this trip, a group founded to bring together past serving personnel from HMS Hermes 9 and 10.

The events planned for the decommissioning will span over three days after which it is expected she will be converted into a floating hotel/casino.

If you would like further information about NCI's IT Services to Schools or Business please visit: www.ncitech.co.uk

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