Families flocked to Oban’s North Pier at the weekend for a last look at the Royal Navy’s mine-hunter HMS Blyth before she heads to the Gulf on patrol.
The ship will return to frontline service after returning home to the Clyde for an extensive refit.
The renovation began at Rosyth dockyard in April last year and for the past seven months Blyth has undergone an extensive upgrade designed to prepare her for operations around the globe.
She arrived in Oban on Friday and spent the weekend berthed at the pier so the public could take a look around.
And despite freezing temperatures and snow showers throughout Saturday, numerous families jumped at the chance.
The work, which was undertaken by Babcock, includeincluding the installation of three new diesel generators.
Other work included the complete renewal of her hull’s outer paint and improvements made to the crew’s living areas.
Since returning to sea, Commanding Officer of HMS Blyth, Lieutenant Commander Matt Sykes, and his crew have been putting the ship through her paces during sea trials.
He said: “The refit and the sea trials have gone well. It’s great to have HMS Blyth back, ship-shape, and ready for action.
“HMS Blyth and her Faslane-based sisters are some of the most capable minehunters in the world, operated by the best trained crews anywhere.
“I am enormously proud of the effort my sailors have made over the last few months getting us back to our home port.
“Next up is some training time, so we can get back to our main job of keeping the world’s vital trade routes safe from the threat of sea mines.”