The ship’s company of HMS York are over a barrel at the arrival of their latest piece of kit – a new 4.5in main gun.

York is the first of the Type 42 destroyer fleet to be fitted with the distinctive new gun, already introduced in the frigate fleet.

Known affectionately as the ‘Kryten’ after the Red Dwarf TV sitcom character with a similarly angular head, the 15-tonne piece of armament is able to fire at the rate of 23 rounds per minute at targets up to 26,000 yards away – a distance which will increase with the arrival of improved shells, currently being distributed to vessels.

The gun may arguably not look as attractive as the bulbous traditional 4.5in gun, but the new outer casing is designed to reduce the radar cross-section.

Other improvements include less reliance on hydraulics – which in turn means the gun is more reliable, easier to look after and lighter.