HMS Exeter, the last surviving operational Royal Navy warship which took part in the Falklands War, will retire from service on Wednesday. A decommissioning ceremony to mark the end of HMS Exeter's 29-year career, is to be held at Portsmouth Naval Base.
Amongst the 325 guests attending the event will be many of its Falklands veterans as well as 10 of its 21 former commanding officers.
Exeter's white ensign will be lowered for the last time during the ceremony and it will be rounded off in naval ceremonial fashion with the cutting of a decommissioning cake.
Portsmouth-based HMS Exeter destroyed four Argentine aircraft - two Skyhawks and two reconnaissance planes - during the Falklands campaign.
The Type 42 destroyer was sent to the region from the Caribbean to replace its sister ship HMS Sheffield, the first major British casualty of the conflict.
Built by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders on the Tyne, HMS Exeter was launched in 1978 and entered service in September 1980.
It was also involved in the Gulf War of 1991, employed as an escort for a US battleship and mine countermeasures vessels off the Kuwaiti coast.
In 2005 it took part in the International Fleet Review to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
During its lengthy service around the globe Exeter clocked up 892,811 nautical miles.
The Navy is replacing its ageing Type 42s with the far more capable Type 45 Daring class of destroyers.
The first of the class, HMS Daring, made its first entry to its home base at Portsmouth in January and the second, HMS Dauntless, is due to arrive next year.
Most of Exeter's ship's company have already been transferred to other posts across the naval fleet, including Daring and Dauntless.
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