Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster has sailed for the South Atlantic with two significant birds on board.

She becomes the first frigate or destroyer to deploy with a Merlin helicopter as the ship’s flight, replacing the more familiar Lynx.

Lancaster is also the home of Sunny the parrot, the Royal Navy’s sole sea-going mascot, who lives in the wardroom.

The frigate is scheduled to visit several ports on her way to and from the Falklands, the first being Freetown in Sierra Leone, where members of the ship’s company will hand over a number of computers to a school.

She will then sail on to Takoradi in Ghana and Jamestown on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena. Her return journey will see her call in at Montevideo in Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Halifax in Canada.

While on patrol in the South Atlantic, Lancaster is scheduled to work alongside the Argentinian Navy in a series of search and rescue exercises.

Lt Cdr John Pheasant, the frigate’s Logistics and Supply Officer, said: “We have a busy but varied six months ahead of us.

“We are looking forward to putting the new Merlin helicopter to the test and seeing some fantastic part of the world.”

Lancaster is due back in her home port of Portsmouth shortly before Christmas.