During the tour, dubbed ‘Royal Navy in the Public Eye’, the ship visited Cardiff, Liverpool, Aberdeen and Hull, with a deliberately high-profile programme in each port designed to attract maximum public interest.

In addition to a major recruiting effort, the ship also acting as the venue for preview screenings of the forthcoming ITV drama ‘Making Waves’, which is to be screened later this year.

The Royal Navy Schools Recruiting Team used the ship as a mobile presentation theatre to showcase their skills to local school and college careers advisors, while other organised tours were run by the ship’s company throughout the periods alongside.

Each visit culminated in Ship Open to Visitors, to which the public response was overwhelming – during the four visits over 5,000 members of the public took the opportunity to see the ship for themselves.

During the visits to Aberdeen and Liverpool Richmond also acted as Flagship to Rear Admiral Nick Harris, Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland, during his first official visits to each the ports.

Richmond’s Commanding Officer, Cdr Mike McCartain, said “Royal Navy in the Public Eye has been a fantastic opportunity to show a naval presence in areas of the UK away from the Base Ports to which the local people have responded magnificently.”