HE was on his way to serve in the Gulf – and then Ipswich sailor Danny Boswell was recalled to take command of a Royal Navy training ship.Former St Joseph's pupil Lieutenant Danny Boswell, 30, is the new skipper of HMS Express, the training vessel attached to Wales University in Cardiff.

By James Fraser

HE was on his way to serve in the Gulf – and then Ipswich sailor Danny Boswell was recalled to take command of a Royal Navy training ship.

Former St Joseph's pupil Lieutenant Danny Boswell, 30, is the new skipper of HMS Express, the training vessel attached to Wales University in Cardiff.

"I had got as far as Gibraltar and we had just gone through the Straits when I was transferred," he said.

Cardiff may be less of a potential hotspot than the Arabian Gulf – where Lt Boswell was to serve on the minehunter HMS Bangor – but the task of being a commanding officer is a real challenge, he said.

HMS Express is crewed by members of the university's Royal Naval Unit and is one of the 14 Naval vessels attached to universities around the country.

Lt Boswell, who also attended a St Matthew's Primary School, said he was looking forward to his time in charge of the ship.

"I will spend 18 months in command and it should be interesting working with the students. The idea of the RN university units is to give high calibre undergraduates an understanding of what the Navy does and what life is like in the senior service."

Students use the ship at weekends and during vacations for navigational and leadership training, visiting ports around the UK and sometimes Europe.

Lt Boswell was instrumental in planning the Queen's visit to HMS Bangor in June as part of her golden jubilee celebrations in Portsmouth.

He went to Cambridge University and joined the Navy on graduating in 1997. He is married to Cathy, and his parents John and Janet still live in Ipswich.