A Russian warship was shadowed by a Royal Navy vessel as it sailed close to the Kent shoreline.

Teams from HMS Mersey monitored the journey of Perekop as it sailed close to UK territorial waters.

The Smolnyy-class training ship was spotted travelling near Dover in the English Channel yesterday.

The ship, called the Perekop, was launched in 1976 and is a training vessel which can hold 30 crew and 300 cadets. She carries basic armaments, including four naval cannons, two twin anti-aircraft guns and an anti-submarine rocket launcher.

And she is one of two training vessels attached to the Russian Baltic fleet.

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “As part of a unified response with our allies, we monitor the presence of Russian ships as they transit through the English Channel. This is a normal response to transiting warships from other nations.”

The Dover Strait Shipping page on Facebook posted yesterday about spotting HMS Mersey pass near the Kent coastline.

“The Royal Navy River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey (P283) is currently heading westbound through the Straits,” it said.

“With the visibility as it is, some of you may get to see her if you are local. The vessel is monitoring the progress of a Russian Smolnyy-class training ship.”

HMS Mersey was launched in 2003 and is the youngest of the original batch of River-class offshore patrol vessels.

She is one of the busiest ships in the Royal Navy fleet, averaging 220 days at sea every year.

Most of this time is spent dedicated to ensuring fishing boats and trawlers stick to agreed quotas and regulations on behalf of the Marine Management Organisation.

It is also armed, carrying one 20mm cannon and two general purpose machine guns.