A HERO captain received a fitting send-off aboard his final command ship on Portland after sadly passing away aged 49.
Robert Anders saved the lives of people trapped in the Bahamas as captain of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay in September 2019 during a hurricane relief mission.
The region was devastated by the category five Hurricane Dorian, which destroyed homes through 185mph winds and left residents hungry, thirsty and without shelter.
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Captain Anders, from Warrington, was awarded an OBE for his role in the rescue effort, but he sadly died on the morning of December 22 – the same day he was due to undergo surgery after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in mid-December.
Family, friends, former colleagues and senior officers joined together aboard RFA Mounts Bay for a memorial service off the coast of Portland to remember the hugely popular former commanding officer.
The ship was the obvious choice for a service celebrating his life, before his ashes were committed to the deep.
Joining Captain Anders’ widow Phillipa and the couple’s children Nell and Will was RFA head Commodore David Eagles, his predecessor Commodore Duncan Lamb and Naval Force Generation director Rear Admiral Martin Connell.
As Mounts Bay left Portland Port, RFA chaplain Reverend Andrew Corness led a service of thanksgiving, with a moving eulogy delivered by Commodore Eagles highlighting Captain Anders’ devotion to his family and very successful sea-going career.
Commodore Eagles said: “I am honoured to welcome Phillipa, Nell and Will onboard RFA Mounts Bay – a ship which Rob commanded with such distinction.
“She forms the most appropriate of backdrops for us all to remember him by and commit his ashes from.
“I am particularly pleased to be joined by Rob’s wider family and friends along with Admiral Connell in this act of remembrance.”
As well as a busy professional life and his duties as a husband and dad, Captain Anders was also an avid Warrington Wolves fan and a member of the Executive Board of Royal Navy Rugby League.
He always made sure that a flag displaying the club badge flew proudly over his ship, and he was a regular attendee at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on matchdays alongside former Wire star of the 70s Mike Nicholas.
In tribute, a Wire flag was also flown from the yardarm of Mounts Bay throughout the ceremony.
“The events onboard Mount Bay have provided us with lasting memories, and my kids and I are so humbled that today has been made possible,” Mrs Anders said.
“It was a truly wonderful tribute to a much-missed husband and dad.”
As commanding officer of Mounts Bay in September 2019, Captain Anders’ was the first ship to arrive on the scene in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian caused the worst natural disaster in the area in living memory.
In the days which followed, more than 6,000 people were helped by the ship’s team – RFA, Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Engineers and Royal Logistics Corps and Fleet Air Arm – in some of the worst hit areas of Great Abaco Island and surrounding region.
Captain Anders' vessel brought water, food, medical supplies and prefabricated buildings, and the former William Beamont High School pupil saved the life of an elderly woman as she lay trapped under rubble for four days.
Captaining his ship, he used a Google Maps reference sent by the woman's husband to rescue her.
Her husband had called the British crew, who sailed to the area and used co-ordinates and directions from the man to locate his wife using a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter.
Captain Anders and his team also saved an American woman and her three children, including a seven-week-old baby suffering from sepsis.
Using helicopters and boats from RFA Mounts Bay, he directed the hurricane relief effort, including the clearance of 50 miles of roads blocked by storm debris to allow aid to arrive.
At the time, he said: “The whole ship was united in a common aim to help the people onshore and let them know the community cared.
“The ship’s company delivered something called hope. That is something that was visible in people on the ground, who moved from shock and loss to believing that they could rebuild.”
After being awarded his OBE, Captain Anders said he was humbled and that the ship’s company earned the award more than he did.
“A ship will only be effective if it’s a team – everyone on Mounts Bay, no matter which service, was part of that team,” he said.
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