As part of the planned festivities HMS Cumberland, a Royal Navy type 22 Frigate affiliated with Batchworth Sea Scouts, will be berthed out at North Shields for the weekend, will be open to the public on Saturday, 6 March.

Her Commanding Officer, Captain David Dutton OBE, will invite local people to come aboard and learn a little about life in today’s modern Royal Navy.

HMS Cumberland returned from a high-profile six-month deployment to the gulf before Christmas, during which time she foiled a drug smuggling operation and seized drugs worth over £40 million.