VT day: warship stands by for launch

The first ship to be built at Portsmouth’s naval base in nearly four decades, the HMS Clyde, is to be officially named this week.

The traditional ceremony will be carried out by Lesley Dunt, wife of the Director of Defence Estates, Vice Admiral Peter Dunt. The ship, which has been built by support services specialist VT, will then be deployed next spring to patrol the Falkland Islands, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War. The 80-metre, 1,850-ton vessel is the first ship to be built at Portsmouth since HMS Andromeda was finished in 1967.