NEW patrol ship HMS Clyde today bids farewell to Portsmouth – possibly for good – as she sails south to begin work.

The souped-up River-class vessel takes over from HMS Dumbarton Castle as the Falklands guardship.

Clyde will be on duty in the South Atlantic for at least five years under a lease deal with Portsmouth-based shipbuilders VT Group who own and built the warship.

The aim is to carry out maintenance on Clyde in the Southern Hemisphere, rather than bringing her back to Blighty sporadically for an overhaul.

The ship commissioned last month, since when she has been conducting aviation trials and training around the UK before today’s departure for the south.

Over three weeks off the Cornish and Devon coasts, a Sea King from 771 NAS at Culdrose set down 300 times on Clyde to hone the skills of the flight deck crew and provide vital data for the rest of the Fleet (Clyde is the only River-class warship with a flight deck).

Once in the Falklands, she will be available for missions on 282 days a year, with her 40 or so crew being rotated every six months.

 “It is a great honour to be deploying the ship for the first time. The ship’s company are looking forward to sailing in the southern hemisphere and are full of enthusiasm for the challenges that lie ahead,” said Clyde’s Commanding Officer, Lt Cdr Paul Pitcher.

Her predecessor will conduct a handover before returning to Portsmouth for decommissioning in November.