e boxes


● Lt Cdr Jim Thomson and a St Lucian take a break from clearing up at Morne Fond St Jacques


about 200 metres up the hill, and huge trees five feet in diameter now laid where the house used to be. “We used an avalanche probe to search between the logs and mud for any signs of a trapped body. “After some time a possible


location was identified, so work began cutting and moving the huge logs out of the way, our team amongst the missing man’s family passing the heavy sections of tree along and clear of the area. “The search didn’t uncover the missing man’s body, and after a few more hours searching we were unable to do more without some heavy lifting equipment to move the bigger sections of debris clear of the search area. “We were then ordered to


return to Manc for last light to give command a sitrep.”


Another team from Manchester had barely clambered off the ship’s Lynx before they were in business. The five headed into the local mountains to recover an 83-year- old woman whose house was under threat from mudslides, and who could not make it down the muddy slopes without aid. They quickly decided the best course of action would be to carry the woman down on a stretcher, so the sailors, along with five members of the community disaster relief response teams, battled down the three-mile mountain path,


crossing and the lights came on. Much of the damage caused


by Tomas was through torrential rain – the equivalent of two years of rain fell on the slopes of the Soufrière volcano in one day,


rivers


and muddy slopes, arriving in the local church just as their Navy colleagues


reinstated the power


afternoon sun. Some


tasks were more


appealing, such as the swings that were built and the mini football pitch laid out to keep the children amused as rebuilding went on around them.


And all the while Manchester’s


Lynx was at short notice to fly any seriously-ill or injured patients above


the


island’s main hospital. Cdr


Cox


road blocks said:


to the “HMS


Manchester’s ship’s company has put in a magnificent performance over the last 48 hours and I am extremely proud of each and every one of them. “Their efforts ashore in St Lucia


have made a clear and significant difference


to battered island. “It has been humbling and a


privilege to help the people of St Lucia as they attempt to get back on their feet following this terrible tragedy”.


Wave Ruler was also involved, calling at Castries,


Manchester’s consort RFA the island’s


capital, to deliver 150 tonnes of drinking water and supplies of purification tablets. In all, 14 islanders lost their lives, and 250 familes were rendered homeless, but with the situation stabilised, Manchester and Wave Ruler had no time to rest on their laurels – a quick replenishment at sea allowed the destroyer to plough through more heavy seas as it chased Tomas, by now increasing in strength again, towards the Turks and Caicos Islands. She arrived six hours after the


causing devastating and


destructive mudslides and floods. HMS Manchester maintained a close liaison with the local authorities and the Red Cross as they tackled a prioritised list of problems – including supplying a hot meal to hundreds of villagers, their first in almost four days. Over 200 gallons of fresh water supplied from the


was ship –


particularly welcomed by the head and children of a local orphanage, whose supply had been cut off 48 hours previously. At


Colombette, where a


massive mudslide had destroyed a number of homes, it was quickly apparent that the chances of anybody surviving were zero – a situation the Manchester rescue team felt should not pass without recognition, so a cross was made and a short prayer was read by ship’s padre the Rev Mark Allsopp, who also provided support to relatives of the missing villagers who arrived during the search. On return to Soufrière, the team


were immediately dispatched to the hospital, where the basement courtyard and laundry were awash with up to 30 cm of muddy silt. Manchester’s matelots,


using


locally-supplied plant machinery, cleared the area in four hours, while another group used locally- sourced material and supplies from the ship to repair a large section of the hospital’s metal roof, ripped off during the storm – a less-than- pleasant job in the full heat of the


storm had passed, followed some hours later by the RFA tanker, and Manchester’s Lynx was once more sent aloft to report on damage – of which there was little, the low- lying British Overseas Territory being less prone to mudslides. With the sincere thanks of the


Governor of the islands ringing in their ears, the sailors of Manchester returned to anti-narcotics patrols while Wave Ruler moved on to Haiti to support a US Navy task group as the unpredictable Tomas raged on. There have been some lighter moments, contrary to all the doom and gloom of her recent taskings. Seven of her sailors, led by LPT


Lucy Mckenna, organised a two- hour football coaching session for 45 boys aged 6-15 whilst on a port visit in St Vincent. The coaching was an integral part of the RN Football Association’s defence diplomacy policy,


in


conjunction with the Football Association’s overseas initiative. LPT Mckenna, a qualified FA


coach, set out stances to develop the boy’s dribbling, passing and shooting skills, then the session moved on to encompass attacking, defending and creation of space. The session culminated with


a series of five-a-side-matches where the boys displayed their competitive edge. At the end of the afternoon all the boys were presented with an England shirt. As Navy News went to press, the destroyer was alongside in Havana – thought to be the first such visit by a Royal Navy warship in over 50 years. See next month’s Navy News


for a full report. 


● (Above) A member of the Royal Navy rescue teams gets a helping hand in the mud that engulfed villages on the slope of the Soufrière volcano (PIcture by Chris Terrill, Uppercut Films). (Below) HMS Manchester’s Lynx helicopter at the rough-and-ready Morne Fond St Jacques landing site in St Lucia (picture by ETME Roycroft)


the hurricane- ● HMS Manchester at sunrise in the Caribbean Picture: Chris Terrill (Uppercut Films) Picture: CPO Sullivan


NAVY NEWS, DECEMBER 2010


21


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