There was a long tradition of Royal Navy warships being 'adopted' by local areas – formal or informal links would be established between a town and a particular ship. Often the ships company would visit the 'adopted' area and there might be a parade. The ship’s Arms or a plaque would be displayed in the town council. Sometimes there might be reciprocal visits to the ship by local dignitaries, see for example Canvey Island. At the beginning of 1942 a national campaign extended this idea by linking it to a fundraising efforts for War Bonds. Over 1200 cities, towns and villages took part. Many if not most exceeded their targets and an extraordinary £955,611,589 was raised in total.
