A father-of-two has set sail for his sixth deployment to the Gulf with the Royal Navy at the age of just 28.

Petty Officer David Pearce, or Flash as his shipmates call him, is a crew member of HMS Atherstone, a mine counter measures vessel (MCMV), which will visit the region to help maintain maritime security.

PO Pearce, from Southampton, Hampshire, joined the navy in 2004 and has served on 10 different Hunt and Sandown class mine hunters based in both Portsmouth and Faslane.

He said that one of his proudest moments during his 11-year service was being presented with his Operation Telic (Iraq) medal by Prince Harry at a ceremony that his family attended.

PO Pearce said of his latest mission to the Gulf: ''I have been here a number of times before so I know how things work but there is always a challenge waiting, which keeps us all on our toes.

''I still enjoy deploying to the Gulf, but as always, I am looking forward to seeing my wife Antonia and children at the end of the deployment.''

The Portsmouth-based MCMV is deployed to the Middle East in support of the UK's Bahrain-based Maritime Component Command.

HMS Atherstone's role in the Gulf is to survey the sea using its hi-tech sonar equipment to detect any potential waterborne dangers to ensure the safety of one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

PO Pearce, who has a five-year-old son Oliver, and one-year-old daughter Erin, has the role of bosun onboard which means he is the ship's head of seamanship and he is also the safety officer and conducts regular fire-fighting training for the ship's company.

His deployment with the rest of MCM2 Crew 4 embarked on HMS Atherstone will last until the end of the year.