A Royal message and a ceremonial lowering of the Ensign have turned the final page on nearly 200 years of Royal Navy history at Pembroke Dock. The disbandment of the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service and the closure of its Mooring and Salvage Depot means that the town's naval connection has finally been severed. The town was created around Wales' only Royal Dockyard where over 260 vessels were built for the Navy. From 1914, when building of the first two vessels commenced, the community has always had a naval presence which finally came to an end on Monday. Commander Tony Mason, the honorary naval liaison officer for West Wales, saluted as the RMAS Ensign was ceremonially lowered by marine service officer Tony Drake, and the Last Post and Reveille were played by 13-year-old Edward Adams, a pupil of Milford Haven Comprehensive School. In Pembroke Dock's last day as a dockyard port, depot manager Andrew Hammond read out the message from The Queen who had been sent loyal greetings from the RMAS on the occasion of its disbandment. Remaining staff members who witnessed the ceremony were thanked by operations manager Peter Cooper for their wonderful loyalty and work right up to the last day. Three cheers for the RMAS were led by Commander Tony Mason. He said the naval link with Pembroke Dock went back 197 years as Admiralty surveyors had first assessed the area in 1811. Martin Cavaney, chairman of the Pembroke Dock Museum Trust, witnessed the sad and historic day. "It is truly the end of a long and extraordinary chapter," he said. "Pembroke Dock would not exist had it not been for the Royal Navy's decision to build ships here. The Navy fashioned this community and contributed greatly to its development and prosperity. Now, after close on two centuries, that link has ended."