Royal Navy Destroyer calls in Belize City

The ships of the United States Coast Guard and Navy are not the only vessels plying the waters of the Caribbean in search of drug runners. The United Kingdom usually has at least one ship of the Royal Navy cruising somewhere between Bermuda and Belize. That patrol, aside from drug interdiction, is also ready to aid in disaster relief for hurricanes, or in the case of Montserrat, volcanic eruption. The ship currently on duty, the H.M.S. Manchester, will arrive in the Belize City harbour on Thursday for a three-day visit. While in Belizean waters the Destroyer will work closely with BATSUB and practice gunnery at Toledo’s Seven Hills range. The Manchester, built in 1982 and recently refitted with the latest technology, has a length of one hundred and forty-one metres, a displacement of forty-five hundred tons and a top speed of thirty knots. She also carries a Lynx helicopter. The Manchester is accompanied by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight.