Pictures: LA(Phots) Keith Morgan and Jason Ballard, FRPU East

IF you could encapsulate ‘Christmas coming early’ in photographic form, then this kiss is a very good place to start.

On Fountain Lake Jetty in Portsmouth, a sailor from HMS St Albans embraces his partner after six months in the Gulf.

And just a few yards away there were similar scenes as the 240 men and women of HMS Edinburgh returned home – in their case from six months in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The two warships returned to the Solent one after the other on a clear, crisp December morn. They found 600 family members and friends waiting for them (and there was quite a few more on Round Tower).

Above the tumult of cheers, they might have heard the skirl of bagpipes; in celebration of her Scottish heritage, two pipers stood on Edinburgh’s bridge roof to serenade the ship into harbour.

For The Saint today’s temperatures in Portsmouth – a mere 5˚C – were a bit of a shock to the system; not that long ago she was enjoying the sights of Aqaba in Jordan, the pyramids outside Cairo and, most recently, Grand Harbour in Malta.

The core of her six months away were focused in the Gulf – although she hit the headlines before she got to her operational area; the ship’s Merlin – which returned to base at Culdrose in Cornwall yesterday – saved all 13 crew of the tanker Pavit as the vessel threatened to sink in the Arabian Sea.

The bulk of the Saint’s time away was rather less dramatic – numerous multi-national exercises (including working with two US Navy carriers) to strengthen ties with Gulf states and to protect British interests in region invaluable to the nation’s commerce.

“The ship has been quietly operating in the Gulf area, reassuring, deterring, exercising and generally doing all the diplomacy activities that the RN has contributed to the region for many years,” said the frigate’s Commanding Officer Cdr Tom Sharpe.

“However, maintaining the focus and skills required to swing immediately to the other end of the scale was the challenge and I am proud of the way my ship’s company achieved this through the heat of the Arabian summer. In sum, we did the blockades, and whilst there was no Trafalgar on completion, we were ready.”

It was a deployment which, St Albans’ Commanding Officer conceded, “lacked glamour”… but luckily that was provided when his ship came alongside.

AB Aaron Stoker pops the question to his girlfriend Hannah Reeson

With the gangway across AB Aaron Stoker (sadly not an advocate of nominative determinism, as he’s actually a seaman specialist) rushed ashore and promptly got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend Hannah Reeson (who said ‘yes’).

A few yards away HMS Edinburgh was rather more used to the chilly temperatures; the bulk of her time away came in the South Atlantic, including a visit to the snowy paradise of South Georgia.

She also crossed into the Pacific, via the natural canals of Patagonia and then back across the Americas courtesy of the world’s greatest man-made waterway, the Panama Canal.

The lowest temperature recorded by the ship’s company of the Fortress of the Sea was -19˚C – although things did warm up latterly; the final stage of her deployment saw her support the international fight against the narcotics trade in the Caribbean.

A warm welcome on a cold day for one Edinburgh sailor

In short, the Type 42 destroyer had left a footprint on four continents since departing Portsmouth said her Commanding Officer Cdr Paul Russell.

He added: “From defence diplomacy along the West African coast to exercises in the Pacific, from the Antarctic to drug-busting operations in the Caribbean, the ship and her crew have demonstrated the versatility and agility that typifies the modern Royal Navy.”

“With HMS Edinburgh approaching 30 years of service to the nation, it has been a privilege to be in command of such a ‘can do’ group of sailors.

Cdr Russell continued: “I would like to thank each and every member of the ship’s company who has served on board during my time as the captain.

“I am wholly indebted to them for their unrivalled professionalism which has allowed Edinburgh to be so successful around the globe. Of course this would not have been possible without the constant support of our families and friends and I am truly grateful for all of the unseen personal sacrifices that they have made during the six months that their loved ones have been away.”