Royal Navy welcome HMS Daring to the fleet
The rainclouds held off until the last minute, letting the crowds welcome the navy's newest warship.
With crisp drumming Portsmouth's Royal Marines Band set the scene for the christening of HMS Daring at the city's naval base.
Families gathered on a cloudy day at Victory jetty to watch a Tornado and helicopter flypast and hear from Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
She is the Type 45 destroyer's patron and first saw the ship launched in February 2006.
She said: 'It is an enormous pleasure to be here with our ship proudly wearing the White Ensign and Union Jack in her home port.
'She is a testament to those who designed and built her and she will be an inspiration to all the men and women of the Royal Navy called to serve on board.'
Families of the ship's company gathered to hear naval hymns and watch as Daring's commissioning pennant was ceremonially broken.
At the same time, her White Ensign and Union Jack were raised at either end of the ship, meaning she is now a part of the fleet and can be chosen for a deployment.
To mark the occasion – and his 17th birthday – the youngest crew member, Able Seaman Daniel Small, cut a cake with the Countess of Wessex.
The warfare specialist said: 'It's quite an honour to be at the centre of a ceremony like this.
'My family are very proud of me, and the ship is fantastic.
'I'll leave on a training course shortly for four months and then I'll be back with a tasking.'
Captain Paddy McAlpine, commanding officer of the ship, said it was a 'very proud day' for both him and the navy.
He said: 'I am lucky that I was appointed for such an historic day.
'We've got six months of hard work coming up but this is a day of celebration.'
As soon as the ceremony ended the rain started, echoing the cloud-filled conditions that marked Daring's first arrival in Portsmouth in January.
THE NEXT TASK
She has arrived in her new home, been through trials, and now she's been christened into the fleet.
The next task for Daring and her 190-strong crew is to get ready for exercises with aircraft carriers and amphibious task groups.
Captain Paddy McAlpine has the job of getting his sailors ready to take the navy's most advanced destroyer on into service.
When he achieves it Daring should be able to sail 3,000 miles, operate for three days and return home without refuelling.
He said: 'We've got a lot of work coming up in the next six months, it's going to be tough.
'I arrived 10 weeks ago and since then we've been on trial work in Channel, which will go towards getting us ready for working in a carrier group next year.'
Capt McAlpine, who lives in Chichester, is overseeing the integration of the ship's weapon systems with its Sea Viper missile.
All six of the Daring ship are to be armed with the hi-tech missile system, which is capable of tracking hundreds of targets as far as 400km away and attacking up to 10 of them simultaneously.'
The Type 45 warships are expected to cost 6.5bn, up from the original 5bn estimate from the MoD.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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