The firepower of Royal Navy warship HMS St Albans has been tested at a range off the coast of Norway.

The Portsmouth-based warship put down 160 rounds of high explosive on to an island range by day and night during training involving the Royal Navy, British Army and Norwegian commandos.

Each time they fired 88lb of steel and thunder left the barrel of HMS St Albans’ main gun at more than twice the speed of sound.

The night shoot was by far the more dramatic as the stillness of the Norwegian night was broken first by the crackle of a radio message as a spotter on a remote, windswept island relayed the target co-ordinates.

Then, under the faint glow of the Northern Lights, there was brief, but impressive display of neon light from the base bleed – a clever pyrotechnic in the base of the shell designed to reduce aerodynamic drag – following the words “Four-five, engage!” in St Albans’ operations room.

And a few seconds later there was the distant crump of the shell impacting on Norwegian rocks ten miles away.

The shoot was the most comprehensive test for the gun, which was installed during a £25m revamp completed in the Saint’s home base last year.

The frigate was the last ship in the Fleet to receive the latest version of the 4.5in gun, which has served the Royal Navy for more than 40 years.