Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon is heading to the eastern Mediterranean, a week after its deployment was announced.
The Type 45 destroyer is capable of shooting down drones and ballistic missiles fired by Iran and its proxies as the Middle East crisis continues.
The crew of the vessel were seen lining the deck as the ship moved out of Portsmouth Harbour.
Officials insisted the ship had been prepared as quickly as possible for deployment, with six weeks’ worth of work squeezed into six days.
The announcement of the deployment of the ship came in response to a drone attack which hit the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
