From the end of June the Type 42 destroyer will be effectively mothballed and is highly unlikely to leave Portsmouth naval base on duty until she leaves service in February 2010.

That is two years earlier than planned by the Ministry of Defence, though another destroyer will now stay in service for longer.

The remaining Type 42s are being replaced by six new Type 45s from 2010, but the fact that the move was not made public has angered those close to the ship.

A Navy source, who has a relative serving in Nottingham, said: 'After watching HMS Nottingham return I was outraged to discover that in fact it is not going for a re-fit even though navy top brass insist it is.

'I know this is untrue and the ship is to be decommissioned.

'The reason I am angry is because the ship has recently had millions of pounds of taxpayers' money thrown at it only for it to be scrapped.

'I wonder why the Navy want to keep this as quiet as possible.'

The Ministry of Defence denied claims of secrecy, saying the service periods for Nottingham and the Type 42 destroyer HMS Liverpool would be swapped so scarce resources could be better used.

A spokesman said: 'The decision to swap these two vessels makes clear engineering and fiscal sense.

'Liverpool is the cheaper unit to run and is in a much better material state.'

The spokesman said this should not be seen as a slight on Nottingham, as she has gone for longer without maintenance than Liverpool.

He said: 'The decision will not degrade the Type 42 availability, profile or manning position.'

However it could take months to re-fit Nottingham to take part in any action if she were ever needed.

The MoD insisted that Nottingham could be called into action if an emergency ever arose, but refused to say how long it would take to return her to a ready state.

It also refused to say how many of the ship's complement would remain with her in the new lower state of readiness.