HMS Montrose crew return to Plymouth

The Mayor of Plymouth, Councillor Vivien Pengelly, welcomed HMS Montrose and its crew home to its base at Devonport

The ship's company was sent nearly 800 bags of mail during the deployment

The frigate will now have a short maintenance period before taking up her role as the Royal Navy's high readiness on-call warship

More than 600 people were at Devonport to see the frigate's return

The Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose has returned home to Plymouth after being away for more than 200 days.

It has carried out a series of operations, including supporting international efforts to ensure removal of chemical weapons from Syria.

More than 600 people were at Devonport to see the frigate's return following its seven-month deployment.

The crew has travelled 32,000 miles and visited 10 countries, including Greece, Djibouti, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Cmdr James Parkin, the ship's captain, said he was proud of the ship's company "who have committed themselves to the changing circumstances of this deployment and the professionalism that this mission has demanded".

"From our work in the Gulf, to our time on the Syrian chemical weapons tasking, the deployment has been a definitive success in every one of the many tasks that my team have undertaken," he said.

During its latest deployment the frigate used 3,763,000 litres (827,744 gallons) of fuel.

The ship has also visited Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al-Khaimah, Cyprus, Malta and Gibraltar.

The frigate will now have a short maintenance period before taking up her role as the Royal Navy's high readiness on-call warship.