A Royal Navy warship had to be towed back into port with 'technical issues' just two days after leaving.

HMS Duncan was among a group of four NATO ships that visited HM Naval Base Devonport at the weekend.

The fleet left on Monday and had been due to set sail to a European port after it completed its training exercises off the Plymouth coast.

A Royal Navy warship had to be be towed back into port with 'technical issues' just two days after leaving

But local residents spotted the Type 45 frigate being towed across the Sound at about 11.30am on Wednesday.

Raymond Wergan, 85, of Plymouth, Devon, who captured these pictures of the vessel, said it appeared entirely powerless.

A spokesman from the Ministry of Defence said the ship had experienced 'technical issues' and was being brought back to the base so the problem could be assessed.

HMS Duncan was among a group of four NATO ships that visited HM Naval Base Devonport at the weekend

Raymond Wergan, 85, of Plymouth, Devon, who captured these pictures of the vessel, said it appeared entirely powerless

The Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, comprising ships from the Royal Navy, the Spanish and Portuguese navies and a German auxiliary tanker, berthed in Devonport last Friday.

The ships, which included HMS Duncan, FGS Rhoen (German Navy), NRP Alvares Cabral (Portugese Navy) and the flagship ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon (Spanish Navy), were also planning a Christmas break, while remaining on short-notice for tasking.

As the MailOnline previously reported, the Royal Navy's £6 billion fleet of Type 45 destroyers was spending more time berthed in UK military ports than on active duty defending the nation, official figures revealed after a Freedom of Information Request.

The six vessels notched up a staggering 1,515 days in our harbours in the year between April 2015 and 2016 - and four of the state-of-the-art ships were stationary for more than 300 days each.

A spokesman from the Ministry of Defence said the Type 45 frigate had experienced 'technical issues'

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, have angered a former head of the Royal Navy, who has called for urgent action by Theresa May to resolve the problem.

The Navy's Type 45s, also known as the D or Daring class, are an advanced class of six guided missile destroyers built - at a cost of around £1bn each.

The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare, and the first to be built - HMS Daring - was commissioned in 2009.

The fleet left on Monday and had been due to set sail to a European port after it completed its training exercises off the Plymouth coast

They replaced the Type 42 destroyers that had served during the Falklands War, with the last of their class being decommissioned in 2013.

On the launch of HMS Daring, the Royal Navy proclaimed it was the world's best air-defence ship.

During an attack a single Type 45 could simultaneously track, engage and destroy more targets than five Type 42 destroyers operating together.

