Wrexham set to award Honorary Freedom of the County Borough to HMS Dragon

Wrexham Council could award Honorary Freedom of the County Borough to HMS Dragon – a Royal Navy warship.

The county was ‘gifted’ the ship, the first to be affiliated with Wrexham since the Second World War, during a ceremony in Portsmouth earlier this year.

It is one of the Royal Navy’s advanced Type 45 air defence destroyers, and is instantly recognisable with her roaring Welsh Dragons emblazoned across her bows.

Prior to this, the Type 45 Destroyer was affiliated with Cardiff; but as there will soon be a new Type 26 Frigate, HMS Cardiff, Dragon was twinned with Wrexham.

Currently HMS Dragon undergoing the final phases of her refit in Portsmouth and is set to emerge in the coming months after upgrades to her engines, sensors and weapon systems.

The ship has yet to officially visit the city and is unlikely to be seen sailing down the flash or the River Gwenfro in the near future due to the lack of deep enough water.

However,  tomorrow all members of the council will be asked to consider awarding Honorary Freedom of the County Borough to HMS Dragon.

According to a report due before councillors granting the Honorary Freedom will “formally recognise the Royal Navy’s contribution to the County Borough, their relationship with the people of Wrexham and to acknowledge the honour of the affiliation of HMS Dragon to Wrexham.”

The Honorary Freedom of the Borough is usually awarded to individuals or entities for significant contributions to the local area.

In 2023 Wrexham AFC and its owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were granted Freedom of the County Borough during a closed-off ceremony at the Guildhall. It was awarded in recognition of the club’s long and proud history, and the impact the two owners have had in helping to promote Wrexham across the world.

No footage of that ceremony has been released by Wrexham Council, as despite commissioning a third party videographer to record the visit, the council did not procure it or adapt it to be compliant with welsh language standards.

With the warship unable to dock at any port in the entirely landlocked Wrexham it has been proposed that the council invites the Royal Navy to accept the Honorary Freedom of the County Borough for HMS Dragon.

Crews from HMS Dragon first visited the city over the summer to mark the eightieth anniversary of D-Day – when Allied troops landed in Normandy and began the liberation of Western Europe.

Wednesday’s report also details Wrexham’s history with the Royal Navy and the Armed Forces.

HMS Dragon isn’t the first warship to be affiliated to Wrexham – with three previously being ‘adopted’ by the area during the Second World War.

Wednesday’s report explains: “The previous affiliations to Wrexham stemmed from Warship Weeks – national campaigns in the Second World War with the aim of a city, town or village adopting a Royal Navy warship to raise cash to fund a particular vessel.

“Wrexham County Borough adopted three ships during the war. W-class destroyer HMS Veteran (sunk in 1942) by a German torpedo in the North Atlantic was affiliated with Wrexham itself, while Flower-class corvette HMS Begonia (sold in 1946) was associated with West Wrexham, while HMS Anemone (sold to Norway in 1949) was affiliated to Rhosllanerchrugog.”

Explaining the reasoning behind awarding the Freedom of the County Borough to a warship, Wrexham Council say: “The Royal Navy has recently affiliated its ship HMS Dragon, one of the Royal Navy’s advanced Type 45 air defence destroyers, to Wrexham in a ceremony at her homeport of Portsmouth. The affiliation was passed on from Cardiff to Wrexham.

“Affiliations between warships and local communities are a time-honoured tradition, with the connections serving as symbols of unity and mutual support.

“All major Royal Navy ships have affiliations as part of a long-standing custom that binds their crews to the land via a network of relationships which spread across the United Kingdom. 2.4 It is the first time since the Second World War that a Royal Navy warship will be affiliated to Wrexham.

“The Council are asked to consider granting the Honorary Freedom of the County Borough to HMS Dragon to formally recognise the Royal Navy’s contribution to the County Borough, their relationship with the people of Wrexham and to acknowledge the honour of the affiliation of HMS Dragon to Wrexham.

The report will be considered at full council tomorrow, Wednesday 25 September, at 4pm.