The Royal Navy’s two new assault ships have put to sea side-by-side for the first time.

HMS Albion was joined in the English Channel by her younger sister HMS Bulwark as the latter conducted trials as she prepares for operational readiness.

Albion, flagship of the Navy’s amphibious arm, was declared fit for front-line duties in the spring, but Bulwark is some way behind her, having only arrived in Devonport for the first time during the summer.

As the two 18,500-tonne assault ships steamed around the Channel, Albion’s sponsor, the Princess Royal, visited the vessel for the first time at sea.

Princess Anne spent four hours aboard Albion, and beyond the usual formalities of meeting members of the ship’s company and dining with 75 of them, she was also treated to a ride in the Royal Marines’ beach recovery vehicle, ‘The Beast’, in the ship’s vast loading dock.

The Princess left Albion with an unusual memento – a barbecue for her home, Gatcombe House, built by the engineering department and Devonport dockyard repair firm DML.

It has a pretty good pedigree – similar designs were used successfully during Albion’s summer deployment to the United States.

“It was a privilege to have the Princess Royal on board, and especially nice that she made the time to get around the ship and meet people in their places of work,” said LCH ‘Wurzel’ Warnes.

Records on board Bulwark indicate that this was the first time that two Royal Navy Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) have met at sea since January 1991, when it was the turn of HM ships Fearless and Intrepid.

The former Fleet carriers Albion and Bulwark would last have met at least 20 years before that.

Members of the HMS Bulwark Albion & Centaur Association were also embarked for the day in Bulwark – for the first time in 35 years.