The land which gave us the Olympians, the gods of Mount Olympus, democracy and the Argonauts also provided the stunning backdrop for a high-profile visit to Athens by HMS Southampton.

The Type 42 destroyer, back in action after a six-month overhaul in her home port of Portsmouth, stepped back into the front line by escorting HMS Invincible for Exercise Destined Glory, a NATO-led ‘invasion’ of the Italian island of Sardinia.

With Destined Glory over, the destroyer – appropriately powered by Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbine engines – headed east to join Turkish forces on exercises, and to pay the first visit by an RN ship to Athens (or rather its port Piraeus) in five years.

The Hellenic Navy hosted their British counterparts, organising free trips to the sights of antiquity for Southampton’s crew – notably the Acropolis and, fittingly, the Temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

The Acropolis towering over modern-day Athens proved to be the highlight of the stay for many.

“It’s everyone’s typical image of Greece,” said MEM Emma Dempsey. “Absolutely amazing – I can’t believe I’ve come here as part of my job. It’ll look better when it’s finished, though...”

But it wasn’t all sightseeing and fun in the sun for the sailors, however.

“When we were planning the visit it soon became clear that Southampton couldn’t visit Greece without attempting an olympian feat,” said Marine Engineer Officer Lt Cdr Paul Carroll.

And so 15 members of the ship’s company set out along the historic route from Marathon to Athens city centre, raising £1,100 on the way for a neo-natal unit.

The Greek authorities provided a police escort for the walkers, and closed one lane of the main motorway into the capital.

To lessen the effects of the Peloponnesian heat, the walkers set off at 5.30am and arrived in the Olympic stadium – the original one used for the 1896 games, rather than the recent Olympiad – seven hours and 15 minutes later, not quite as long as the post-walk celebrations.

“Finishing in the stadium made all the hard work worthwhile,” said one of the walk’s organisers, WO2(MEA) ‘Smiley’ Miles.

Sport was a major feature of Southampton’s stop-off in Greece.

A team from the destroyer flew the British flag in the Navarino Cup – a sailing contest which takes its title from the 1827 clash in the Navarino Bay, when an Anglo-French and Russian fleet defeated a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada.

The battle proved to be a turning point in Greece’s struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire, and each year a regatta commemorates the battle.

This year, as a gesture of friendship between the nations, Southampton’s Lt Anya Shepherd raced in the Yngling class with the Hellenic Yacht Club’s champion Ruslana Taran.

The fact that their boat won was hardly surprising – Ruslana had just picked up Olympic silver, to add to bronzes from Sydney and Atlanta.

There was a more sombre mood on board, though, when the ship’s company paused while at sea to remember the 81 men of the wartime cruiser of the same name which was attacked and fatally damaged in the Mediterranean in January 1941.

Wreaths were cast on to the sea – one of many acts of remembrance organised by units and warships around the UK and worldwide to honour the sacrifices of their predecessors.