The Geordie Gunboat makes her last public appearance as part of the Fleet today – and the longest-serving surface warship in the Royal Navy goes out on a high.

The Type 42 destroyer makes her last entry into Portsmouth Harbour this afternoon before paying off after nearly 27 years of service.

Typically, HMS Newcastle has been working right up to the end, completing a five-day navigational training course – but her final entrance, with traditional paying-off pennant streaming behind her, closes the final chapter on an illustrious career.

She was the fifth of her class ordered – on Remembrance Day 1971 – but was the third to enter service on March 23, 1978.

The ship did not enjoy a carefree launch. When Sylvia Rodgers, wife of the then Defence Minister, released the champagne bottle it failed to smash, and Newcastle was already sliding down into the Tyne before a second attempt could be made.

Mrs Rodgers did not give up, however, and pursued the destroyer in a launch before completing the ceremony in mid-river.

Just three months after entering service the ship was granted the Freedom of the City of Newcastle, earning her the nickname the Geordie Gunboat. Her ties with Tyneside have remained close ever since.

Her first deployment was to the South Atlantic under the command of Capt Julian Oswald, who was destined to become First Sea Lord.

HMS Newcastle has seen service right around the globe, including several deployments to the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war, a trip to the Falklands shortly after the end of hostilities (she was in refit during the conflict itself), Operation Equinox to monitor Soviet naval activities in the Barents Sea, and drug-busting in the Caribbean.

In July 1985 Newcastle was shadowing the Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev when a Russian jet fighter crashed into the sea as it attempted to land.

The pilot ejected and Newcastle’s sea boat was launched to help the aviator, arriving in time to help him into the winch strop of a Soviet rescue helicopter.

The following year she was again on a mercy mission, this time as escort to the Royal Yacht Britannia which had been diverted to evacuate foreign nationals from Aden following a coup which threatened their safety.

During her two weeks on station her Lynx transferred 247 evacuees by winch from a merchant ship – regarded by the warship as a record.

In 1999 Newcastle was in the Gulf as escort to aircraft carrier HMS Invincible during a period of rising tension, and she then went straight to the Adriatic with the carrier as the Kosovo crisis developed.

2000 saw the destroyer join the Royal Navy task group which sailed to the Far East to demonstrate support for stability and security in the region, and while doing so she pioneered a schools internet site, allowing children in the UK to trace the ship’s course around the world.

Also on board for that trip was a regular and high-profile visitor from that point on – Salty Bear, who recently made his way back to his shore base, Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay.

Salty’s own web page proved a great success with the children, who followed his progress as he walked the Great Wall of China, climbed Mt Fuji and surfed in Hawaii among other things.

The intrepid bear even joined his shipmates at a temporary fire station in Berkshire when they were drafted in to provide emergency cover for striking firefighters in 2002.

Most recently, Newcastle was a star attraction at the Southampton Boat Show this summer, where she welcomed 4,000 visitors on board, following which she made a final trip to her namesake city.

The sailors brought the centre of Newcastle to a standstill as they marched through the ‘Toon’ raising cheers from bystanders, be they workers, tourists, shoppers or drivers.

It was the last opportunity for the 230 men and women of HMS Newcastle to parade through the streets of ‘their’ city, swords drawn and bayonets fixed.

And although the ship officially decommissions in the new year, this high-profile visit to her birthplace was really her swansong.

For six days, the ship - berthed at Spiller’s Wharf on the north bank of the Tyne, as the new Millennium Bridge barred her way to the traditional city centre berth - was in the spotlight, featuring regularly on television and radio, in the newspapers, and in conversation.

Among the onlookers during the ceremonies were shipyard workers who helped build the Gunboat

“She was sent off in style,” said Peter Booth. “But it is sad – you kind of feel part of it.”

The ship’s company formed up in front of Newcastle’s civic center as Lord Mayor Cllr George Douglas inspected the sailors for the last time.

“ You are returning home to Newcastle,” he told them. “You have always been the pride of our city. You will not be forgotten. People have come to see you out of a love for your ship.

“Newcastle has been a wonderful ambassador for her adopted city, the Royal Navy and the whole country.”

Few, if any, ships enjoy such a strong bond with their adopted cities – perhaps the ‘Shiny Sheff’ and Sheffield is the closest comparison – and the need to break that bond, encapsulated in the returning of the Freedom Scroll, made the occasion all the more poignant.

For the past 26 years, the scroll has hung in the cabin of Newcastle’s Commanding Officer, but it was the sad duty of the ship’s final CO, Cdr Jeremy Blunden, to return the document to the mayor.

It will now hang in pride of place, in the civic center, marking the ship’s position in exalted company, including Nelson Mandela, former US President Jimmy Carter, Newcastle United football team, and England Rugby Union star Jonny Wilkinson, who are all honorary freemen.

But there was more to the ship’s final visit home than formal ceremonies. First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West and local movers and shakers wee hosted on board, while sailors were given a tour of St James’ Park, home of Premiership club Newcastle United.

The ship’s football team even took on the Magpies’ reserve side (though the score remains a closely-guarded secret), some took part in the Great North Run, and there was even an appearance on TV show Ready, Steady, Cook.

And then there were the runs ashore, for old times’ sake, in what is regarded by the Navy as one of the most hospitable places in the world for the men and women in dark blue.

But despite the fun and the grand ceremonies, there was an undercurrent of sadness.

“People were asking us: ‘Why are they getting rid of this ship? She’s a great ship,’” said marine engineer Lt Andy Leivers.

But she is now a true veteran, and the first of the ships which will replace Newcastle, Glasgow and their sisters – the imposing D-class destroyers – are already taking shape in yards and factories around the country.

“It has been a fabulous experience, tinged with a certain amount of sadness,” said Cdr Blunden. “Newcastle saw its ship for the final time. Let us hope there will be a new ship affiliated with the city before too long.”

The sentiment was echoed by the city: “We are waiting for the day that we can have a ship to call our own again,” said Cllr Douglas.

Link to the HMS Newcastle Factcard