Warship's poignant final voyage includes Bermuda

The crew of the Royal Naval warship HMS Manchester left Bermuda on Saturday with mixed emotions.

After nearly seven months at sea, there was a buzz of excitement on deck as the 267 sailors headed for Britain and looked forward to enjoying Christmas with their families.

But the trip home is also the destroyer’s final foreign voyage of her naval career before she is decommissioned in the new year.

HMS Manchester has been in service for 30 years and has sailed across the globe.

She saw action in the first Gulf War and was the first Royal Naval warship into Kuwait City.

Her most recent deployment to intercept drug traffickers and provide humanitarian relief to disaster zones in the Caribbean is her fifth trip to the region.

Commander Rex Cox said: “It is quite poignant to be the last commander of Manchester.

Reputation

“It will be very sad when the ship gets decommissioned in February.

“It’s not clear what will happen to her next.

“The ship has always had a great reputation and is one which everyone wants to serve in. We will all miss her when we go.

“Some people have been serving on HMS Manchester for seven to eight years.

“We hope this spirit of Manchester will live on in one of her replacements, HMS Dragon.”

HMS Manchester left her homeport of Portsmouth on May 24 and is due to arrive back in the U.K. on December 9.

In the last seven months the crew have visited 18 different countries and helped seize millions of dollars worth of drugs.

They provided vital relief to the people of St. Lucia in the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Tomas.

In November, HMS Manchester became the first Royal Navy ship to visit Cuba in more than half a century.

Commander Cox said: “It was a historic moment — the Cuban reception was incredibly warm. The people as well as the government made us feel very welcome.”

HMS Manchester was involved in two major drug busts during her seven months at sea.

In June she intercepted a smuggling boat packed full with 250kg of cannabis off the coast of Montserrat.

Cocaine

Her Lynx helicopter was also used to scout out drug plantations on the island.

In October, HMS Manchester crept up on a converted fishing vessel trafficking drugs under cover of darkness.

The boat had been trying to smuggle more than 240kg of cocaine across the Colombian Basin when she was intercepted.

In September she went 1,000 miles out of her way and sped to Bermuda to provide support in the wake of Hurricane Igor.

The ship’s helicopter was used to complete the first aerial survey of the island after the hurricane had passed.

Just last month the crew was in St. Lucia after Hurricane Tomas ravaged the island.

They helped restore power supplies and provided fresh water in the wake of the natural disaster, which saw two years worth of rainfall in just 24 hours.

Fourteen people died and there was $20 million worth of damage.

Members of the crew were airlifted to the island to help clear roads and set up power lines again.

Commander Cox added: “It only seems like yesterday that we came aboard in Portsmouth and set off across the Atlantic.

“It has been a pretty full-on schedule and we have had several notable successes.

“We have achieved a great deal over the last few months and I am extremely proud of the way that the crew has dealt with everything.”