The British warship, HMS Dauntless on her way to South America
SKY NEWS
The Royal Navy's most advanced warship has set sail from Portsmouth for a six-month deployment to the Falkland Islands.
HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, was waved off by the families and friends of the 190-strong crew from a sunny vantage point overlooking the ancient harbour, reports Sky News.
The ship will be responsible for patrolling the waters around the islands in the South Atlantic.
She sets sail at a time of heightened diplomatic tensions between the UK and Argentina heightened diplomatic tensions between the UK and Argentina.
The Ministry of Defence insists the deployment is routine. The ship is part of a rotation in which another ship, HMS Montrose, a smaller, less sophisticated frigate, will return home from the South Atlantic.
The warship's departure from Portsmouth comes exactly 30 years after a naval task force of more than 120 ships set sail from the same port to retake the Falkland Islands following the Argentine invasion in 1982.
Among those watching the departure and waving a Union flag was Gemma Woodford whose younger brother Oliver Clarke is one of Dauntless' crew.
She said: "It's more emotional than I thought. I am proud of him because he was a bit worried himself I think."
Oliver Clarke's mother Tracy was emotional too.
"Very emotional," she said.
"It's a milestone because his Dad was in the Navy and he went out to the Falklands just after it was taken."
Tracy said the deployment had been made harder by the renewed tensions between Britain and Argentina.
"It has been, yes because it does worry you what's going on out there and is there going to be any more upset and anything happening, but hopefully they will go out there and come back safely."
The Argentine Government has accused the United Kingdom of 'militarising' the South Atlantic in recent months. It is a charge both the British Government and the local Falklands government reject.
Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, the Argentine President said in February that "this militarisation poses a grave danger to international security".
Reacting to the recent deployment of Prince William to the islands as a search and rescue pilot, President Kirchner said: "We cannot interpret in any other way the deployment of an ultra-modern destroyer accompanying the heir to the throne, who we would prefer to see in civilian attire."
A Downing Street spokeswoman responded to the accusation saying: "We are not militarising the South Atlantic, our military posture remains the same."