Last of the 42s – During the early part of 2013 we will mark the passing of the Type 42 Destroyers – the backbone of the Royal Navy since the mid 1970s – with the last ship of the class, the EDINBURGH pays off this spring.   The EDINBURGH returns from a final deployment to the South Atlantic and is scheduled to conduct a ceremonial farewell tour of the UK before a final last entry to Portsmouth and decommissioning in May 2013.

The first Type 42 was the SHEFFIELD, ordered in late 1968 and sixteen were built with the SHEFFIELD and the COVENTRY both lost in the Falklands in 1982.    The EDINBURGH is scheduled to take part in 70th anniversary of the Battle of Atlantic commemorations in London and Liverpool, and will also visit Leith to end the long association with the Scottish capital.