ROYAL Navy warship HMS Tyne came to Barry as part of the Waterfront Festival last weekend.

Tall ships Stavros S Niarchos, Kathleen and May, and SV Ruth were also at the festival, which ran on Saturday and Sunday.

HMS Tyne left Barry on Monday (September 5), after a four-day visit to Wales.

Lieutenant Commanding Officer Will Peters, who assumed command of HMS Tyne in July last year, was delighted that the warship could attend the festival.

"We are here to support Barry and show a presence for the Waterfront Festival, as well as expose the public to what HMS Tyne and the Royal Navy does," he said.

"We are also here to show our support for the Vale of Glamorgan Council, which is the first council in Wales to have signed up to the Armed Forces Community Covenant (AFCC) scheme."

The scheme aims to engage with armed forces and local councils to help protect the rights of personnel serving in the armed forces.

"Across all three of the armed forces, families are often requested to move, which can be difficult when you have small children trying to get into good schools," added CO Peters.

"The covenant aims to redress that balance so you are not disadvantaged and can maintain your places on NHS waiting lists and other instances."

The 39-year-old Commanding Officer has been in the Royal Navy for 21 years.

Along with sister ships Mersey and Severn, HMS Tyne forms the backbone of the Fishery Protection Squadron, the oldest Squadron in the Royal Navy, which patrol English, Welsh and Northern Irish waters, enforcing EU and UK legislation designed to ensure the sustainability of fish stocks for the future.

"Our day-to-day business is monitoring and inspecting policy of EU and national fishing legislation, where we inspect fishing vessels," he added.

"We have searched 400 in the last 12 months at sea.

"We have undertaken six vessels into port for further inspection as a result of prosecutions. A total in fines of prosecutions has claimed £55,000."

HMS Tyne spends 320 days at sea each year, policing over 80,000 square miles of sea, up to 200 miles off the coast of the UK.

BEN Wheatley is Chief Officer of the Stavros S Niarchos, which was also at the Waterfront Festival.

"The ship was built and is owned by the Tall Ships Youth Trust," he said.

"We take groups of young people, and sometimes adults, on training voyages.

"When the young people come on board they have no experience and we teach them how to sail the ships themselves, the rigging and everything else.

"We teach them about leadership, teamwork and its all good fun, with them working hard too."

The ship is nearly 200ft long and weighs 500 tonnes.