Two more ships involved in the conflict off Iraq arrive back in the UK today – although these ships took the long way home from the Middle East.

Type 42 destroyer HMS Liverpool and Type 23 frigate HMS Marlborough were originally part of Naval Task Group 2003 (NTG 03), which had been due to leave Portsmouth in January for a deployment which would take them to the Far East and Australasia.

And although they were attached to the Amphibious Task Group as it exercised in the Mediterranean, and subsequently took part in Operation Telic which brought down Saddam Hussein’s regime, the pair – along with RFA tanker Grey Rover – picked up much of the NTG 03 programme, one or both of the warships visiting ports in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan.

Both ships are expecting a warm welcome as they come alongside in Portsmouth Naval Base mid-morning.