First Royal Navy ship commissioned at Chatham Dockyard since 1988

One of the Royal Navy's newest ships, HMS Medway, has been commissioned at a ceremony in Chatham.

It's been more than 30 years since a Royal Navy vessel has been commissioned on the Medway.

The last was HMS Chatham in 1988.

Type 22 Frigate HMS Chatham was decommissioned in June 2011.

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The ceremony is part of a weekend of events celebrating the ship's link to the town.

On Saturday, the ship's company will parade through the town, led by the Band of the Royal Marines.

  • Profile: HMS Medway

HMS Medway is the second of five new Offshore Patrol Vessels, according to the Royal Navy.

Production began in 2015, with the first steel being cut in June of that year.

She was named by her sponsor Lady Fallon, the wife of former Defence Secretary and Sevenoaks MP Sir Michael Fallon, at a ceremony in October 2017.

She'll carry out fisheries protection, counter-terrorism and border patrol duties.