Portland Harbour will get a visit from five Royal Navy units next week and will be inviting guests on board and carrying out demonstrations.

HM Ships Raider, Biter, Charger, Exploit and Smiter are all part of the University Royal Naval Units (URNU) squadron and are gathering at Portland Marina ahead of a squad exercise to be held at Portsmouth.

During the short visit, the five craft will host a number of local guests for a reception and capability demonstration on Tuesday evening, before returning to sea on Wednesday morning with cadets and guests embarked for the transit to Portsmouth.

A Navy spokesman said: “The organisation’s mission is to educate a wide spectrum of high-calibre undergraduates who show potential as society’s future leaders.”

The 54-tonne boat is commanded by a Royal Navy lieutenant who is responsible for 51 undergraduates, who each join the Navy as RN Reservists for their three or four years at university.

Training is conducted one evening a week in shore units at or near the university and at sea, over the weekends and during the vacations, by a dedicated Archer Class P2000 20-metre patrol craft.

There are currently 14 boats supporting the countries’ leading universities in England, Wales and Scotland.

Each boat is commanded by a Navy lieutenant.

HMS Raider is used to conduct sea-training at weekends during term-time; travelling to ports on the south coast and on the continent.

During the Easter and summer vacations, HMS Raider is deployed for up to six weeks.

She has a top speed of 24 knots.