A Royal Navy destroyer has returned to base after being forced to cut a mission to the Gulf short following a mechanical breakdown.

The crew of HMS Diamond was welcomed home by friends and family as they sailed back to Portsmouth Naval Base.

The Type-45 destroyer spent three months in the Mediterranean before having to end her deployment because of "technical issues".

A navy spokesman said:

"She was due to head to the Gulf for a nine-month deployment but returned to her home port early after experiencing technical issues.

"During her time away, the ship's company had a demanding and diverse programme of events - taking command of NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 in the Mediterranean when HMS Ocean was retasked to deliver disaster relief in the Caribbean”

Commander Ben Keith, Diamond's commanding officer, said:

"While it is earlier than planned, it was fantastic to see all of our families waiting here for us on the jetty. Everyone on board was incredibly excited.

"We had a rapid change of programme not long after we deployed by taking on the command of Nato Standing Maritime Group 2 in the Med.

“We completed two months of tasking conducting maritime security with our Nato partners and reassuring our allies of our commitment to NATO."

This is not the first time that the fleet of six Type-45 destroyers has suffered problems.