ON A glorious late summer Sunday morning 216 days away from home came to an end for frigate HMS Cornwall, which arrived safely back in Devonport after an eventful trip to the Gulf.

To the outside world the deployment will most be remembered for the capture of Cornwall’s RN/RM boarding by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in March and the subsequent media meltdown.

Away from the “media glare”, however, CO Cdr Jeremy Woods said his ship and her men and women had achieved “a great deal indeed”.

The Type 22 frigate served as the flagship of Cdre Nick Lambert and his RN team currently heading Task Force 158 which enforces security in and around Iraqi waters.

Most of Cornwall’s time was spent in a two-mile radius of the two Iraqi oil terminals which fill waiting tankers with black gold. During F99’s spell in the northern Gulf more than 200 million barrels of crude oil (worth more than £5m) were safely exported via the terminals.

Cornwall worked with 26 different ships from Allied nations during her Gulf tour of duty. For every six dhows, tugs, tankers, fishing vessels or other craft bobbing around the northern Gulf, Cornwall’s boarding parties inspected at least one – that meant 327 boardings in all.

“I am proud of the way all my people conducted themselves and delighted with the manner in which they tackled this busy and challenging deployment,” Cdr Woods added.

“Every single member of our close-knit team has turned their hands to a multitude of tasks , and they have completed them most professionally and in a timely manner.

“We’ve received numerous messages of support from families, friends and our many affiliates – and for this I thank them all.”