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Harbour to feature first 21-Gun salute afloat
After a break of at least 40 years, the Royal Navy's annual series of 21-gun salutes are to be fired from a commissioned warship as it steams through the heart of Hong Kong harbour.
The first such salute will be fired on Friday (April 21) by HMS Starling to mark the official birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Hong Kong is an officially-designated saluting base and as such the Royal Navy maintains the ancient British tradition of firing a series of 21-gun salutes each year to mark a number of Royal anniversaries.
For at least the last 40 years the salutes have been fired by three historic saluting cannon dating from before World War I.
The guns were mounted initially shore-mounted on the waterfront of the original HMS Tamar, now the Prince of Wales Barracks in Central.
Since the move of the Royal Navy to Stonecutters Island in 1993 they have been fired from a site on the south shore of that island.
However the site was unsatisfactory since it was invisible to the public. In addition it has now been enveloped by preparatory work for the new naval base being built for the People's Liberation Army Navy.
New saluting cannon brought out from Britain have been installed, initially aboard HMS Starling, so that the salutes can be fired from a sea- going warship in the full view of much of the city.
The salute will begin at noon as HMS Starling passes between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central. The ship will be on a westerly heading through the main harbour channel.
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