Ceremony to commission HMS Dauntless in Portsmouth

A new destroyer has been commissioned into service by the Royal Navy.

HMS Dauntless officially joined the British fleet following a ceremony at Portsmouth naval base in Hampshire.

Guests at the ceremony included families of the 190 crew members and the Commander-In-Chief Fleet Admiral Sir Trevor Soar.

Dauntless is the second of six new design destroyers being built for the Royal Navy, all of which will be based in Portsmouth.

Music for the ceremony was provided by the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines. The ship's commanding officer, Captain Richard Powell, read the commissioning warrant.

The ceremony was concluded as his wife, Carolyn, and engineering technician Robert Clough, 17, the youngest member of the ship's company, cut a traditional commissioning cake.

Type 45 destroyers have nearly twice the range - about 7,000 miles - and are 45% more fuel efficient than the Type 42 destroyers they are replacing in the £6bn project.

The first Type 45 vessel, HMS Daring, was commissioned last July. The third, HMS Diamond, is due to arrive in Portsmouth by the end of the year.

Capt Powell said: "The Type 45 destroyer represents the cutting edge of air defence and propulsion technology and reflects the excellence of British manufacturing expertise delivering real operational capability.

"The ship is able to deal not only with today's threats but most importantly tomorrow's and will be a key element of the 21st Century Royal Navy."