by Jonathan Morris BBC News Online, Plymouth

Smiles: Schoolgirls Victoria Baskerville and Danielle Whitton

But people turned out in their thousands for the presentation in Plymouth of a new Colour to the Royal Navy.

Plymouth, after all, has links that go very deep with the Navy.

Most people have some connection with the senior service - even my taxi driver had been in the Royal Tournament.

And it is in Plymouth that the Navy's largest warship, HMS Ocean, is based.

It was from this ship, moored in Plymouth Sound, that the Queen presented the Colour, a 3ft 8in by 3ft silk flag bearing a crown and Royal Cypher.

Big screen

It was only the third time it had happened in the Navy's history.

To cap it all, it was also the 415th anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada - as the Queen pointed out on board.

"When I was in the Navy I never realised there was a Colour." Ronald Speller In pictures

Ex-Navy man Ronald Speller grinned as he admitted he had never heard about the Colour until this year.

He had nevertheless travelled nearly 100 miles from Weston-super-Mare for the event.

He said: "We always had the white ensign.

"But when I was in the Navy I never realised there was a Colour.

"I still like to keep involved though. My niece's husband is in the Navy."

Mr Speller and others on Plymouth Hoe were able to enjoy the spectacle out at sea via a big screen and loudspeakers, so that everything from the presentation was audible to all.

When the rain came down the hardiest remained in place, determined to enjoy the spectacle of 17 warships, a fly-past and a sail-past in what was the largest collection of Navy vessels in Plymouth since 1905.

The city will probably never see anything like it again for many years.

And that, for many onlookers, was reason enough to shrug off the rain and enjoy an event of majesty and marine firepower.