Two Royal Navy ships returned to Portsmouth within hours of each other after long deployments to the South Atlantic.

Ice patrol ship HMS Endurance ventured further south than ever before during work periods off Antarctica, while Type 42 destroyer HMS Glasgow steamed 28,000 miles protecting the UK’s interests in the region and carrying out goodwill visits to a number of ports.

Endurance – known as the Red Plum because of her distinctive red hull – undertook a heavy programme of survey work for the UK Hydrographic Office around South Georgia, and helped the British Antarctic Survey by moving significant amounts of aviation fuel on to the Antarctic ice shelf.

The fuel dumps will allow BAS scientists to conduct research and expeditions in the region for the next five years.

The tasks were carried out at the Ronne and Filchner ice shelves in the Weddell Sea – the most southerly destination reached by Endurance in her 11-year career with the Royal Navy.

She also carried with her a representative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, helping the ship carry out Antarctic Treaty inspections at foreign bases in the area.

At the end of last year seven Royal Marines from the ship paid tribute to legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton by retracing the steps of his dramatic trek to safety across South Georgia in 1915, after his vessel – also called Endurance – was crushed by pack-ice in the Weddell Sea, hundreds of miles from civilisation.

His crew crossed the dangerous open seas in a tiny whaler, then trekked 30 miles across mountain peaks and glaciers to find help at a whaling station.

Capt Tom Karsten, the ice patrol ship’s Commanding Officer, said: “The deployment has had many highlights for the ship’s company.

“We have carried out three intensive work periods in a remarkable part of the world, and managed to get further south than ever before.

“On the return journey, in Cape Town, we were pleased to host visits on board from descendants of Shackleton’s Endurance.”

HMS Glasgow managed to clock up 14 different countries in Africa, South America and the British Atlantic Territories during her stint on Atlantic Patrol Tasking (South) or APT(S).

During the long passage south the destroyer stopped off at Sierra Leone where 25 crew members helped build an adventure playground at one of the many orphanages near the capital, Freetown.

There were also visits to Ghana and Angola before the ship arrived in Cape Town for a Christmas break.

During her ten weeks on station around the Falklands, Glasgow called in at South Georgia to rendezvous with Endurance, before heading north to Uruguay for a maintenance period.

The ship also visited Recife in Brazil and Banjul in the Gambia.

Commanding Officer Cdr Mike Wainhouse said that the deployment had been thoroughly rewarding.

“It allowed us new experiences and the opportunity to visit places that most people will never see in a lifetime,” he said.

“It has also proved to be hard work but the ship, and most importantly the ship’s company, have shown their worth, and we are all now looking forward to rediscovering what life is like at home.”