FIVE months of chasing drug-runners and spreading goodwill have ended for the men and women of the good ship Lancaster.

The Red Rose frigate received a warm welcome on a glorious spring morning in Portsmouth at the end of a varied winter deployment to Africa and the Caribbean.

Four weeks of the deployment were devoured by the Atlantic. It took two weeks to head west from Africa before Christmas... and it took a fortnight to cover the 3,500 miles from Curacao to Sierra Leone, where the ship’s tour of duty began in earnest late last year.

The anti-drugs mission Lancaster carried out in the Caribbean failed to ‘bag’ any traffickers, but there was plenty of evidence that they stopped at least one haul of narcotics being shipped when a suspicious – but empty – trawler was found.

Perhaps the most rewarding time was spent in Grenada, where veterans of Hurricane Ivan were astonished by the progress made to rebuild the island.

Lt Cdr ‘John’ Fitzpatrick arrived in HMS Richmond in the hurricane’s wake in 2004. Two and a half years later, the now operations officer of HMS Lancaster found clear evidence of Ivan’s rage – but the work and effort that had gone in to putting Grenada back on its feet was awe inspiring.

Lt Cdr Mark Sheldon and Surg Lt Jayne Mckinlay visited the hospital, meeting many nurses and doctors who were involved in the busy period post-Ivan; they highly praised the RN first aid team which worked tirelessly with them after the storm.

“I‘d never seen so much devastation – the whole place was flattened. I don’t know how people survived,” recalled LStd ‘Percy’ Braithwaite, who had been part of that first aid team in 2004.

“Now I see the work that has been done and effort the locals have put in to get their paradise island back. It’s wonderful!”

Having retired their previous mascot Sunny the Parrot, for this deployment crew welcomed aboard Flat Stanley.

Stanley was squashed by a bulletin board at school (hence the name) and was sent to Lt Cdr Mark Sheldon by his niece so he could file reports for school children on his adventures around the globe.

And what adventures: he enjoyed race nights on the flight deck (so did the crew); he helped with loading stores aboard (so did the crew); he played rugby in Grenada (so did the crew); he went kayaking in the Virgin Islands (so did the crew); he got soaked on the forecastle by Atlantic goffers as Lancaster raced home (hmm, the crew were in the comfort of their mess decks for that one...).