Heartwarming tale as Navy crest with Norwegian link makes it back on to British ship

A member of the Royal Navy has told a heartwarming story on Twitter of how a British ship's crest has tied a Norwegian father and son to the service for more than 50 years.

Chief Petty Officer Dave Earner said that after finishing work on a Saturday night in Harstad, Norway, a local resident "in a killer seal skin jacket approached".

After talking to the Norwegian local about the ship and why it was in the Norwegian seas, he mentioned HMS Puncher was used to train university students.

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CPO Earner said when hearing this, the local man's expression "changed" and said he had a story he "would like to" pass on.

"I'd, of course, had a few beers so I said 'on you come, mate' and we sat in the wardroom where he accepted a drink," CPO Earner said.

The Norwegian man went on to explain that growing up in Harstad, he remembered HMS Mohawk making a visit and how he would ride his bike up and down the shore looking at the ship's guns.

"Ashore one night, Mohawk's CO got talking to his father [a teacher at the local school] and said that if he was interested, he could come to sea with Mohawk and six of his students the next day," CPO Earner said.

"At the end of the trip, the CO presented his father with a Mohawk ship's crest."

The Norwegian man explained the crest had hung in his father's office for more than 50 years and was passed on to him when he died.

But, the man explained he had no family to pass it on to, so offered it to the crew of HMS Puncher to look after.

"In the wardroom on Puncher, pretty much every bulkhead is covered in ship's crests from various navies," CPO Earner said.

"I told him we'd happily take his crest and that I'd mount it in the wardroom alongside all the others.

"He was absolutely thrilled and a little emotional and said he'd be back the next day with the ship's crest of Mohawk. And that's exactly what he did."

CPO Earner said he then presented the man with an HMS Puncher crest, adding the man said "knowing his father's crest would have a safe and meaningful new home had brought him a great peace because the thought of it being thrown away… was an awful one".

"It felt good to help this guy out and now Puncher, like Mohawk did 55 years ago, has a friend way up in Harstad," he said.