Sailors from frigate HMS Kent are preparing to make history as the first non-capital ship’s team to enter a top Navy field gun competition.

A 25-strong team from the Duke-class warship – including Commanding Officer Cdr Jim Nisbet – has just taken delivery of the 2,000lb field gun which members will be required to pull in the Brickwoods competition next month.

An area of Portsmouth Naval Base has been set aside as a training ground for the team to rehearse the split-second timing and lung-bursting runs which are required to succeed in what was regarded as one of the toughest sports in the world when the inter-command contest was in its heyday at the Royal Tournament in London.

Until now the Brickwoods version, staged by HMS Collingwood in Fareham, had attracted entries solely from the Navy’s stone frigates or shore establishments, where there are usually thousands of candidates from which the volunteers can be drawn.

Despite the fact that HMS Kent only has a ship’s company of 174 to choose from, her Marine Engineer Officer (MEO) Lt Cdr John Kelly said the team was determined to put up a good show.

“There is great spirit in the ship and I am sure our young sailors will deliver a performance of which they can be proud,” he said.

“IT takes a lot of strength, courage and commitment just to train for this event, and the team’s preparation is having to be completed within the ship’s busy operational programme.”

The gruelling Brickwoods competition involves 14 teams hauling their equipment in a series of races over 170 yards.

The field gun competition recalls the heroics of Royal Navy gunners in the Boer War, who pulled makeshift field guns, constructed from ship’s guns on carriages, miles over rough terrain to help lift the siege at Ladysmith in 1899.