Prince Philip’s funeral honors his naval career and reflects his love of the sea

Prince Philip had a long relationship with the royal navy and was always outspoken in his admiration for the sea. The sea, as described by Prince Phillip, is “an extraordinary master or mistress” with “extraordinary moods.”

With maritime-themed hymns, Bible verses, and prayers, Prince Philip’s funeral will pay tribute to his love of the sea. He was well-known for being saddened when he was forced to quit the Royal Navy sooner than expected, in 1951, to assist the Queen in taking on further duties.

He’d been assigned charge of his own ship, and many thought he was on his way to becoming First Sea Lord, the Royal Navy’s finest leader.

The funeral will pay tribute to the ocean with certain thoughtful touches to celebrate his life’s deep passion.

Prior to his death, Prince Philip is said to have planned his own funeral.

Eternal Father, Strong To Save will be one of the hymns performed at the ceremony tomorrow. It was inspired by the hazards of the sea outlined in Psalm 107 when William Whiting wrote it in 1860.

Who walkedst on the foaming deep, And calm amid its rage didst sleep: O hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea,’ says one verse. It  has long been synonymous with sailors and the military.

There will also be a reading of The First Lesson by the Dean of Windsor (Ecclesiasticus 43. 11-26). “Those who sail the sea tell stories of its dangers, which astonish all who hear them; in it are strange and wonderful creatures, all kinds of living things and huge sea-monsters,” it says.

The Duke also urged the congregation to pray that God fulfills a “ancient promise” to all who “go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters.”

Psalm 107, which the Church of England recommends the Royal Navy prays after a storm, mentions the promise.

Psalm 104 – ‘My soul give praise unto the Lord of heaven’ – was also requested to be included in the service.

It describes the ‘Lord of heaven, in majesty and honour clothed … seas he made to be its robe,’ as well as waters rising over the highest peak.

During the service, action stations, which are sounded on naval vessels as a signal to go to fight, will also be played.

Buglars will perform this wartime alert, which they normally do at naval funerals until the Last Post is played, which signifies that “a soldier has gone to rest.”

As an 18-month-old prince, Philip Mountbatten had his first brush with the Royal Navy.

Philip was placed in a makeshift cot built out of an orange crate and evacuated from Greece on HMS Calypso after his uncle King Constantine I was overthrown in an anti-royalist coup.

He entered the Navy as a cadet shortly before World War II broke out sixteen and a half years later, in 1939.

During WWII, Prince Philip distinguished himself aboard the Navy, completing two round-the-world voyages in the Royal Yacht Britannia.

He was one of the youngest First Lieutenants and second-in-command of a ship, the destroyer escort HMS Wallace of the Rosyth Escort Force, when he was only 21 years old.