HMS Forth is the first of four fishery protection vessels that will patrol UK waters

He helped lead Britain out of Europe — and now Michael Gove is getting his own navy to keep the Europeans away: a squadron of armed patrol boats to deter foreign trawlers after Brexit.

His department is about to get the first of four powerful fishery protection vessels, whose task will be to prevent French, Spanish, Danish and other boats from fishing illegally in UK waters.

HMS Forth, which is undergoing sea trials, will have a 30mm gun, machineguns and a helicopter when it enters service next year. Four other ships are being built at a cost of £350m, with one going to the Falklands.

The navy ships will be paid for by the Marine Management Organisation, part of Gove’s Department for Environment, Food and