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Another chapter in Royal Navy history has come to a close as the last of 14 Type 42 destroyers completed her final operational deployment. As HMS Edinburgh returned to Portsmouth after six months conducting routine maritime security patrols so ended 38 years of frontline service from a generation of warships that operated at the forefront of a number of conflicts which resulted in the loss of two of their number to enemy action.

The last of 16 that were built (two served in the Argentine Navy), and one of four Batch 3 ‘stretched’ versions, HMS Edinburgh will perform a number of farewell calls around the UK, including to the city after which she is named, before paying off at the end of May and decommissioning in early June. Extensively refitted as recently as 2010, Edinburgh and her sistership York are being offered for further service to foreign governments.