Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland (F238) sailed from Devonport in May 2001 on the first leg of an arduous seven-month deployment, first heading for the Middle East and a stint on Armilla Patrol, where she helped enforce UN sanctions against Iraq.

This patrol involves regular MIOPS (maritime interdiction operations), under which merchant ships suspected of breaking sanctions by illegally smuggling oil from Iraq are boarded and searched by Royal Navy parties who go aboard from seaboats or by rapid roping on to the deck from a helicopter.

Northumberland was relieved from her Gulf patrols by sister ship HMS Kent in September 2001, at which point she set course for Australia and the Far East.

She returned to her home port, Devonport, on December 14, 2001.

The Type 23, or Duke-class frigate, is one of the workhorses of the modern Royal Navy, with capabilities far beyond its design remit of an anti-submarine ship.

Northumberland, which was launched on April 4, 1992, and commissioned on November 29, 1994, displaces around 4,200 tons when she is fully loaded, and is 133 metres long.

She has a combined diesel-electric and gas turbine propulsion system, based on two Rolls-Royce Spey engines and four Paxman 12CM diesels, allowing her to accelerate to a maximum speed of 28 knots while also allowing her to cruise quietly at 15 knots on the diesels.

She is armed with vertical-launch Seawolf anti-air missiles, Harpoon missiles to attack other surface ships, and Stingray torpedoes, while her 4.5in gun allows her to bombard targets afloat and ashore.

The Type 23 frigate will support either the Lynx or Merlin helicopters.

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