HMS Daring Recommissioning Ceremony

The Captain will read the Commissioning Warrant
The Ensign will be hoisted and the Commissioning Pendant broken

Seeing that in the course of our duty we are set in the midst of many and great dangers and that we cannot be faithful to the high trust placed in us without the help of Almighty God, let us unite our prayers in seeking his blessing upon this ship and all who serve in her, that she may sail under God’s good providence and protection, and that there may never be lacking men well-qualified to offer in her their work and skill for his greater glory, and for the protection of our realm and dominions.

The Captain shall call on the Ship’s Company to ask for God’s Blessing on the ship, using this ancient call:

FROM THE GAELIC BLESSING , 1589

The Captain: I call upon you to pray for God’s blessing on this ship. May God the Father bless her.
Ship’s Company: Bless our ship.

The Captain: May the Holy Spirit bless her.
Ship’s Company: Bless our ship.

The Captain: What do ye fear, seeing that God the Father is with you?
Ship’s Company: We fear nothing.

The Captain: What do ye fear, seeing that God the Son is with you?
Ship’s Company: We fear nothing.

The Captain: What do ye fear, seeing that God the Holy Spirit is with you?
Ship’s Company: We fear nothing.

         Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us                     Saviour! breathe forgiveness o’er us,
        O’er the world’s tempestuous sea;                   All our weakness thou dost know,
        Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,                Thou didst tread this earth before us,
        For we have no help but thee;                           Thou didst feel its keenest woe;
        Yet possessing every blessing                          Lone and dreary, faint and weary.
        If our God our Father be.                                    Through the desert thou didat go.

Spirit of our God, descending,
Fill our hearts with heavenly joy,
Love with every passion blending,
Pleasure that can never cloy;
Thus provided, pardoned, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.

Then shall the Gospel and the prayer following be read by the Roman Catholic Chaplain:

And, sending away the multitude, they take him even as he was in the ship; and there were other ships with him.

And there arose a great storm of wind; and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled.

And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon a pillow. And they awake him and say to him: Master, doth it not concern thee that we perish?

And rising up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea: Peace. Be still. And the wind ceased; and there was made a great calm.

And they feared exceedingly. And they said one to another: Who is this (thinkest thou) that both wind and sea obey him?

Let us pray. Be pleased, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, to hear our prayer and reach out to us thy right hand, as thou didst to Saint Peter walking on the sea. Bless us thy servants and the fleet in which we serve, as thou didst deign to bless Noah and the Ark on the waters of the flood: send thy holy angel from heaven to protect this ship from every kind of danger; may our faithful service to her Majesty the Queen ensure the freedom of the seas to those who travel on their lawful business: grant us thy grace so always to conduct ourselves as to be found worthy of thy eternal reward; who livest and reignest for ever. Amen.

The Chaplain: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
The Ship’s Company: Who hath made heaven and earth.

The Chaplain: The Lord be with you.
The Ship’s Company: And with thy spirit.

The Chaplain:
0 thou that sittest above the waterfloods and stillest the raging of the sea, accept, we beseech thee, the supplications of thy servants for all who in this ship, now or hereafter, shall commit their lives to the perils of the deep. In all their ways enable them truly and godly to serve thee, and by their Christian lives to set forth thy glory throughout the earth. Watch over them in their going, and in their coming in, that no evil befall them, nor mischief come nigh to hurt their souls. And so, through the waves of this troublesome world, and through all the changes and chances of this mortal life, bring them of thy mercy to the sure haven of thine everlasting Kingdom; through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, for the sake of his Son through the comfort of the Holy Ghost, save and sanctify you, and carry you on with favouring winds and comfort over the sea and into harbour, according to his own good will: which thing we desire from him, saying:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. For ever and ever. Amen.

Then shall the Chaplain speak to the Ship’s Company; and afterwards pronounce this blessing on the ship:

0 Lord God Almighty who dost bless those who put their trust in thee, let thy blessing be upon this ship, and upon all those who serve and sail in her: May good success and thy protection and the guardianship of the Holy Angels be with them always. In the name of the Father. Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, the creator and upholder of men, who hast in every age inspired thy servants with courage and skill, we give thee hearty thanks for the example of those who have gone before us and into whose heritage we have entered; for the seamen of our race; for all who in great or small ships have braved the perils of the deep; for all who have given their lives for their country.

And for ourselves, grant, 0 Lord, that amid the changing scenes of life, we may ever be conscious of thy ruling hand. Enable us that we may be found watchful at our posts. Lead us that we may pursue knowledge with humility. Send us forth to adventure with sober courage. Move our hearts that we may ever be mindful one of another, sharing our joys and griefs in the work which thou hast given us to do. Then rest us, Lord, in thy love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, who sent thy Son, Jesus Christ to live in an earthly home, we pray thee to bless our homes, and all who are in them. Grant that, when absent, we may always remain faithful to them, and they to us, remembering that though time and distance part us, we are all one in thee for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished which yieldeth the true glory: through him, who for the finishing of thy work, laid down his life: our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Eternal Father, strong to save,                            0 ruler of the earth and sky
Whose arm doth bind the restless wave,          Be with our airmen when they fly:
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep                 And keep them in thy loving care
Its own appointed limits keep:                            From all the perils of the air.
o hear us when we cry to thee                          0 let our cry come up to thee
For those in peril on the sea.                              For those who fly o’er land and sea.

0 Trinity of love and power,
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them whereso’er they go:
And ever let there rise to thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

O Eternal Lord God, who alone spreadest out the heavens, and rulest the raging of the sea; who has compassed the waters with bounds until day and night come to an end; be pleased to receive into thy Almighty and most gracious protection the persons of us thy servants, and the fleet in which we serve. Preserve us from the dangers of the sea, and from the violence of the enemy; that we may be a safeguard unto our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth and her Dominions; and a security for such as pass on the seas upon their lawful occasions; that the inhabitants of our Island may in peace and quietness serve thee our God: and that we may return in safety to enjoy the blessings of the land, with the fruits of our labours, and that with a thankful remembrance of thy mercies to praise and glorify thy Holy Name: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Teach us good Lord to serve thee as thou deservest, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds. to toil, and not to seek for rest, to labour and to ask for no reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Go forth into the world in peace: be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render no man evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honour all men; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen.

FROM THE GAELIC BLESSING , 1589