Alan Lloyd shares his experiences of life onboard two Royal Navy aircraft carriers, and the enjoyment and variety it afforded him.

A desire to ‘see the world’ and a determination to escape the humdrum routine of working life motivated Alan to join the Navy in 1955, aged 16. He secured a five-year apprenticeship to train as an artificer, specialising in aircraft electronics.

He likens life onboard his first ship, the aircraft carrier HMS Centaur, to living in a small village, where you had to get used to the routines. But he relished it. Despite serving in peacetime, Alan recalls the constant training ‘for the eventuality of war’, but also the lighter moments including celebrations onboard when he first crossed the equator en route to Mombasa.

Alan remembers his time onboard HMS Centaur warmly, with the exception of one ‘dreadful accident’ that remains vividly in his memory. In 1962, five people were killed when a steampipe in the boiler room burst, an incident that affected everyone on the ship.

Alan’s final posting, before retiring after 22 years’ service, was on HMS Ark Royal.

Alan explains the personal challenges that life in the Navy brings, struggling to get home for funerals and family emergencies. But his memories are overwhelmingly positive, and he is grateful for the love of travel it instilled in him.