A teenager from Throckmorton, back from the Gulf, has spoken of the horrendous sights he witnessed in his five-and-a-half months on board HMS Edinburgh.

Trained in electronic warfare, 18-year-old Peter Simpson's work was carried out at action stations in the operations room, where they detect radars and missiles.

"I remember the Captain told us we were going to war in two hours," he said. "We had a church service and there were a few men crying then."

The former Pershore High School student said in his 100 days at sea, he saw the Americans blow up the Iraqi presidential harbour, boats filled with explosives drift towards them and dead animals float from the shore into the sea.

"One night we saw a helicopter crash on the night vision camera, which panicked the operations room. We thought it was a mine," he said.

They all had to sleep above water levels in case there were mines in the water and had to wear protective clothing, which made daily tasks all the more challenging.

Peter said temperatures soared to 40 degrees, tornados whipped through the water and they had to wear masks on deck to protect them from sandstorms.

"There were 265 people on the boat so it did get very claustrophobic," Peter said.

He had to take anti-nerve gas pills, an anthrax injection and carried around a needle which he would have stabbed into his leg if there had been an attack.

His proud parents, Anne and Peter, admitted they were worried about their son, who only managed to send two letters home during his time at sea.

"There's always some young lads who don't come back. All sorts of things go through your head," Anne said.

The giant Easter egg they sent him melted and shrunk in the heat but Peter, as the youngest person on board, was given the honour of cutting a cake the chef made to celebrate the boat's 20th birthday.

More than 100 people gathered at a surprise party for Peter to welcome him home on Saturday night and he will be going back to the ship in two weeks' time.