AS THE Royal Navy's latest vessel, HMS Mersey, slides down the slipway into the River Itchen later this month she will take a unique place in South-ampton history.

HMS Mersey, an 80-metre offshore patrol craft, will be the last Royal Navy vessel to be built and launched in the city by the VT Group, formerly known as Vosper Thornycroft.

The ceremony, on Saturday, June 14, at 11.15am, will signal the end of a Southampton shipbuilding era which stretches back decades.

VT is moving from its long established yard at Woolston to new construction facilities at the Portsmouth Naval Base.

The departure opens up the Southampton waterfront site for redevelopment.

The internationally known shipbuilders moved to the Victoria Road site from Chiswick in London in the 1900s and the first Royal Navy vessel to be launched by the company at Woolston was in 1907.

HMS Mersey is the third of three River Class vessels built for the Royal Navy under a ground-breaking lease deal with the Ministry of Defence.

The ships have been funded by VT and will be chartered to the ministry for an initial period of five years.

At the end of that time, the Ministry of Defence can either extend the charter, purchase the vessels outright or return them to VT.

Utilising a double chine hull form the vessels are claimed to have improved sea-keeping and a higher grade of accommodation compared to earlier craft.

Modular cabins prefabricated and outfitted by VT are single or two-berth and have ensuite facilities.

One of the major assets of the ship is a large working deck which can accommodate up to seven containers, enabling the ship to carry elements such as additional stores, workshops, mine countermeasure support equipment, a diving recompression container or medical facilities.