There was still no sign of HMS Dragon in Cyprus on Sunday a full three weeks after the Iranian drone strike on RAF Akrotiri.

Quizzed on the whereabouts of the Type 45 Destroyer yesterday, Labour Housing Minister Steve Reed could only say it is ‘on its way to the region’.

Despite conflict looming for months, Sir Keir Starmer’s Government did not have a single warship in place when it erupted on February 28.

Iranian proxies launched a Shahed UAV which hit Akrotiri, a British Sovereign Base Area, in the early hours of March 2.

The Royal Navy scrambled to get HMS Dragon seaworthy in six days but it has yet to reach Cyprus which is instead relying on French, Italian and Greek ships.

Asked where it is on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg yesterday, Mr Reed said: ‘The HMS Dragon will be on its way to the region.

‘What happened there is that it was undergoing a six-week refit that was completed in six days instead, thanks to the fantastic capability of our Navy.’

Pushed once more on if it had yet made it to Cyprus, Mr Reed said: ‘That ship is now on its way to join the hundreds of additional personnel, the Typhoon fighter jets, the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters that were already stationed in the region before the conflict even began.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon departed from Portsmouth on March 10 but there was no sign of it in Cyprus 

‘The UK was fully prepared with resources there to defend our interests in case this conflict started, and it did start.’

On Sunday a Ministry of Defence spokesman declined to say where it is but said: ‘We have deployed HMS Dragon, equipped with the cutting-edge Sea Viper missile system which can take down drones and missiles, to play a vital role in safeguarding UK assets and interests in the Middle East. 

This is one element of our wider approach and builds on the defensive capabilities we’ve been bolstering in the region since January, including additional Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 air defence personnel into Cyprus.

‘Those preparations made a real difference, enabling our troops to conduct defensive operations from day one.’

Meanwhile, Britain’s nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Anson, has arrived in the Arabian Sea, say military sources.

The Astute-class vessel is fitted with Tomahawk Block IV land-attack missiles with a range of 1,000 miles and torpedoes.

The fallout from the attack on Akrotiri and Britain’s slow response has caused fury in Cyprus. Last week President Nikos Christodoulides said: ‘When the situation is over in the Middle East we are going to have an open and frank discussion with the British government.’