The UK Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer batch 3, HMS Manchester, will be decommissioned on 24 February in Portsmouth, UK.

The 141m-long and 5,200t warship was launched in 1980 and commissioned into the fleet in 1982 and has served the navy for 30 years.

The ship was the first UK warship to visit Cuba in 53 years, which resulted in strengthening the collaboration between the two countries.

The decommissioning is a planned decision and is not part of the the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review.

The Type 42 batch 3 destroyers form the backbone of the Royal Navy anti-air capability and are equipped with the Sea Dart medium-range air defence missile system to provide area air defence to a group of ships.

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