Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan leaves Portsmouth after undergoing refit

Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan has left her home port of Portsmouth following a refit period.

The Royal Navy confirmed the 152-metre vessel was leaving HMNB Portsmouth to carry out "routine post-maintenance activity".

HMS Duncan returned home to Portsmouth in December, becoming the final Royal Navy warship to return to the UK in time for Christmas.

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The ship and her company had been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean for six months, leading a Nato task group in the region in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

There are six Daring-class Type 45s in the Royal Navy fleet - HMS Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan.

They are the Royal Navy's air defence specialists, and in recent months have proven their worth in the Red Sea.

HMS Diamond, deployed to the region to protect merchant shipping, has shot down a number of Houthi drones and a missile using her Sea Viper missile system and guns.