NEW patrol ship HMS Clyde has paid her first – and probably last – visit to the city for which she was named.

Clyde heads south to the Falklands this summer where she will in all likelihood spend her entire career as the islands’ guardship.

She is, however, affiliated with the borough of Inverclyde and it was only right that its people see their ship before the 8,000-mile journey south.

Lt Cdr Simon Hopper and his 40-strong ship’s company took Clyde to Greenock for four days.

Despite the inclement Bank Holiday weather the visit nevertheless provided welcome respite for the sailors after undergoing operational sea training to prepare them for their Falklands mission.

While some sailors hosted locals aboard, including civic dignitaries and school children, a party headed to the Sir Gabriel Wood Mariners Home in Greenock, home to some 30 elderly sailors – merchant seamen and ex-RN – to share dits of the sea and to spruce up the gardens for the summer.

With the visit to Scotland over, Clyde paid a brief visit to Portsmouth, her ‘home’ port and birthplace, before beginning a month of amphibious warfare and aviation training and then starting the long journey south.

Built and owned by the VT Group and leased to the Royal Navy, Clyde will take over from Dumbarton Castle as the Falklands’ guardship later this year.