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Princess Anne visits Londonderry to mark Battle of Atlantic

NIO A groups of people, some in naval uniform, walk across Derry's Ebrington Square. Two of the people are women, in the company of five uniformed menNIO
NIO A man, dressed in a suit and displaying military medals shows a lady an information board detaling information about world war 2NIO
The Princess Royal viewed the International Sailor Statue during her visit
She also attended at reception in the city's Ebrington Hotel

The Princess Royal has made a visit to Londonderry to attend a commemoration marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Princess Anne met with World War Two veterans, Royal Navy personnel, members of the Royal Naval Association and Canadian naval visitors during a reception at the Ebrington site in the city.

The wartime naval base at Derry was vital to the protection of convoys in the Atlantic and, at one time, 140 Allied escort ships were based on the River Foyle.

It was one of a number of engagements the Princess Royal carried out during her visit to Derry.

Earlier, Princess Anne was welcomed to the Cathedral Youth Club by local primary schoolchildren.

The youth club, formed 50 years ago, was last year awarded The King's Award for Voluntary Service.

She later viewed the International Sailor Statue at Ebrington Square before attending the reception to mark the ending of the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign of World War Two.

Her final visit of the day was to Altnagelvin hospital's Clinical Translational Research & Innovation Centre (C-TRIC), a state-of-the-art clinical research facility.