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THERE was a truly special delivery for a Royal Mail employee – when her boyfriend proposed as he stepped off his Plymouth-based warship.
Amanda Barlow’s shore-side proposal from Able Seaman Ashley Jakes came as HMS Argyll returned home from a six-month deployment.
Hundreds of people gathered at Devonport Naval Base to welcome home the drug-busting frigate and her crew.
And Ashley, aged 25, was given the honour of being the first person to disembark from the ship.
He headed straight for Amanda and, after giving her a brief hug and a kiss, he got down on one knee and popped the question.
“It’s the best Christmas present I could ever ask for,” said Ashley who lives in Ernesettle.
“I bought the ring while I was away and only a few people knew about what I was planning to do.”
Amanda, who also lives in Ernesettle, said she had “no idea” that Ashley was going to propose.
“I’m shaking but I’m so happy,” added the 24-year-old who said the couple had been together for six years.
“I’m so shocked I can’t really speak. I had no idea. I saw him running off the ship but I didn’t know why he was first to come off.”
The happy occasion was applauded by the hundreds of people who had gathered to welcome home HMS Argyll.
And there was plenty of festive cheer elsewhere on the jetty too.
During the deployment there have been five births.
Writer Hugo Ramos was also reunited with his new wife Sharon.
The couple got married in June shortly before he deployed.
Today was also Sharon’s birthday so there was plenty of cause for celebration.
The actions of HMS Argyll and her crew over the last six months made headlines around the world.
Her arrival marked one of the most successful deployments of any Royal Navy vessel in recent times.
During the deployment to the Caribbean and North Atlantic, the Type 23 frigate seized 1,800kgs of cocaine with an estimated wholesale value of £77million.
HMS Argyll and her crew carried out four separate successful drugs busts and a high speed dash to give humanitarian aid to hurricane hit Bermuda.
The drugs seizures included a stop-and-search of a yacht; a high-octane night time chase; and a precision sniper-shoot of a speeding drug running boat’s engines.
HMS Argyll’s Captain, Commander Paul Hammond, told The Herald earlier this week: “We are most happy to return to the UK and our families, but at the same time we look back with great pride at what we have achieved.
“Argyll has done everything asked of her and more during this deployment; we have conducted hurricane disaster relief, taken a huge quantity of drugs out of circulation and we have represented the UK throughout the North Atlantic and Caribbean regions.”
HMS Argyll travelled more than 25,000 nautical miles during her deployment visiting 16 countries across seven time zones.
She spent 183 days away and experienced all types of weather, from calm seas to the aftermath of a hurricane.