It might be the height of summer in the UK but half a world away its the depths of the austral winter – as HMS Edinburgh found on a visit to the wildlife paradise of South Georgia. The Portsmouth-based destroyer is on a six-month stint in the southern ocean to provide reassurance to the Falkland Islands and fly the flag for the UK in this part of the world.

In company with tanker RFA Black Rover, the Fortress of the Sea made the three-day passage from East Cove Military Port in the Falklands to King Edward Point in sight of the South Georgian ‘capital’ Grytviken.