A COMMUNITY gathered on Saturday to say farewell to a part of the city that will never return.

They came to witness a passing of a tradition, for some a way of life, and the end of an era in the history of Southampton.

All ages stood together under the vast roof of one of the huge buildings, which have so long been the dominant landmark high over the rooftops of Woolston, to see the launch of HMS Mersey, the last Royal Navy ship to be constructed in Southampton.

Bit by bit, section by section, the VT Group, formerly better known locally as Vosper Thornycroft, is closing down its long established yard and moving shipbuilding to a new purpose-built complex at Portsmouth Naval Base.

Although employees will be on the site until next year, for many the launch of HMS Mersey brought home the harsh reality that this really was the beginning of the end for the Woolston yard and the tradition of Southampton shipbuilding.

No more will Rule Britannia be played by a military band as a vessel goes down the slipway into the River Itchen, Royal Navy hats will no longer be raised in the air as someone calls for "Three Cheers'' and, perhaps more importantly, never again will city workers look proudly on a vessel of the senior service and say "That was built by us in Southampton.''

For nearly a century some of the Royal Navy's finest fighting ships have emerged from the shipyard at Woolston, but as the country looks to the next generation of warships the long-established Victoria Road site is considered too small to have a future.

Most of the Woolston workforce has already moved to Portsmouth, others have taken the opportunity to take early retirement and some have decided to look for other jobs.

In 2004, the yard's ornate metal gates will swing together for the last time, a padlock will click into place and all that will remain to remind Southampton of its shipbuilding past will be empty construction berths and echoing workshops.

Even they will not remain for long as the 33-acre site, which was sold two months ago for £15million, is to undergo a radical change of use with the arrival of waterfront homes and commercial developments.

It was in 1904 that John I Thornycroft decided to move his London shipyard, founded in 1864, from Chiswick to Southampton as the company needed more room.

The present company was formed in 1966 through the merger of Thornycroft with Vosper's, first established in Portsmouth by Herbert E Vosper in 1871.

Almost 96 years ago to the day, back on June 25, 1907, the first Royal Navy vessel to be built by Thornycroft's in Southampton, the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Tartar, was launched by the company. Now HMS Mersey takes her place in the history books as the last.

During those intervening decades, hundreds of Royal Navy vessels, ranging from small patrol craft to large destroyers, followed, as the yard built up a reputation for quality workmanship at the forefront of ship technology.

For this final occasion a sea of nearly 2,500 spectators, many waving the Union Jack, surrounded HMS Mersey as it waited to be launched into the River Itchen.

HMS Mersey is a highly sophisticated craft that will be used mainly for fishery protection duties but capable of many other roles, high on its construction blocks.

Beneath its hull a team of VT craftsmen, dwarfed by the sheer size of the ship and its superstructure, carried out last minute checks to the launching mechanism, a series of triggers, wires and levers that would release the ship and send the 79-metre long offshore patrol vessel down the slipway and out under the shadow of the nearby Itchen Bridge.

On the dais, VT's official guests included representatives of the armed services, the Ministry of Defence, MPs, local authorities and some of the company's own employees who have worked at the Woolston yard for all their working lives, took their places for the traditional ceremony.

One of the youngest watching the event was eight-month-old Cameron McFerran who, with his mother Lorna, had come all the way from Merseyside for the occasion.

"My step-dad, Barry Grealis has helped build the ship so I just wanted to be here," said Lorna from Birkenhead.

The band of the Royal Marines played alongside the ship and the Bishop of Southampton, the Right Rev Jonathan Gledhill lead a short service of dedication before the naming and launching.

The leading character in this final chapter of Royal Navy shipbuilding in Southampton was Mrs Jennie Reeve, wife of Rear Admiral Jonathan Reeve, who had the honour of being the ship's official sponsor and saying the famous words: "I name this ship HMS Mersey and may God bless her and all who sail in her.''

After performing the ceremony Mrs Reeve met the members of the launch party from Vosper Thornycroft.

"It has been absolutely thrilling, I have never done anything like it before, a real once in a lifetime experience,'' she said.

"I hope this is the start of a long friendship with HMS Mersey.''

As the sound of the vessel's whistle reverberated around the berth HMS Mersey began to move, then gathering speed on the slipway before entering the water with a great splash, sending out waves across the river.

Andrew Bunney, managing director of VT Shipbuilding, said: "The launch of HMS Mersey was a poignant moment, a time of mixed emotions and the end of an era.

"Woolston has served us well and nearly 100 years of shipbuilding under the Thornycroft banner made the yard a centre of excellence in building naval ships.

"VT's move to Portsmouth will ensure that the south coast region retains these highly specialised skills.''

HMS Mersey is third in an initial batch of three River Class vesels built under a unique warship financing agreement. VT has built the ships to its own account and is chartering them to the Royal Navy firstly for five years.

The move is expected to save the Ministry of Defence around £10m a year and VT is hoping that further orders for the River Class will follow under a similar arrangement. The design is also attracting considerable interest from overseas, especially New Zealand.

With a crew of 28, but with accommodation for up to 48, the vessels each have a range of 5,500 nautical miles and can stay away from their home port for 21 days.

There are still a trio of small ferries under construction at Woolston as well as Mirabella V, the world's biggest single masted yacht, being built for an American millionaire.