SHE may have been launched secretly under the cover of darkness, but yesterday HMS Southampton returned proudly to the city where she was built.

The entire ship's crew, half of which hail from Hampshire, donned their best uniform and stood on deck in Alpha Procedure, a rare gesture showing just how much it meant to them.

HMS Southampton had set sail from Portsmouth on the dot of 10am.

Six crew-members ran off from the port on foot at the same time, racing to meet the ship when she docked alongside 106 Berth in the Western Docks four hours later - and raising an estimated £1,000 for the Rose Road Association.

The week-long visit by HMS Southampton - the first since 1987 - has double significance.

Not only will it see the vessel re-dedicated following an 18-month, £30 million refit in Scotland.

But the ship, officers and crew are to be given the Freedom of the City in a gesture of civic pride.

Five hundred soldiers and sailors will march through the street with bayonets fixed to the Civic Centre where the outdoor ceremony will be held at 2.30pm tomorrow.

It's all a far cry from midnight on the night of January 29, 1979, when she was launched in secret because of a strike by workers at Vosper Thornycroft in Woolston.

Sipping coffee on a bridge bristling with binoculars, the commanding officer, Commander Mark Trevor, said it was an honour to be associated with a city with such a maritime history.

He said they received copies of the Daily Echo each week wherever they went - from Scotland to Salvador.

"When you get a paper like this while you are away, it keeps you in touch with reality."

For two crew members, the visit holds special significance.

Petty officer Spencer Sheppard and operator maintainer Emma Gould, 24, of Hulton Close, are coming home.

PO Sheppard, 29, of John Bunyan Close, Whiteley said:

"It's important that we come to Southampton. The ship is not only affiliated with the place, but it represents Southampton wherever we go - and that's all round the world."

Following her visit, the destroyer will be deployed to the Falklands for six months. Sister ships HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry were destroyed there during the Argen-tine conflict.

The Type 42 guided missile destroyer's primary role is air defence.

Sea Dart missiles can be blasted off from the deck, reaching mach 2 in two seconds.

And a Lynx M8 helicopter, fondly dubbed "the Ferrari of the helicopter fleet", is also based on board.

Another aircraft based in Yeovilton put on a ten-minute display of versatility above the Solent. It's thundering engines made the ship's deck shudder as the pilot flipped it in and out of manouveres.

HMS Southampton is the sixth ship of that name. The fifth ship was built in 1936 and was sunk while escorting a convoy in the Mediterranean in January 1941.

Thirty former crew members will attend tomorrow's re-dedication ceremony.

Southampton's mayor Derek Burke joined the ship as she sailed into the docks.

As admiral of the port of Southampton, his standard was fluttering in the chilly sunshine.

"We're taking her home," Mr Burke told the Daily Echo.

"Freedom of the city is not something we bestow lightly. But it's an opportunity for us to thank them for the work they have done."

Want to visit HMS South-ampton She will be open to the public on Thursday, 1pm-3pm, at Berth 106, near the Mayflower terminal.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.