Royal Navy crews return to island ghost town of Plymouth on Caribbean mission

By WMNJBayley From Western Morning News

Westcountry service personnel have glimpsed the devastation visited on Plymouth – thousands of miles from Devon.

The South West garrison town’s namesake, capital of the Caribbean island of Montserrat, was abandoned following a series of volcanic eruptions in the 1990s.

The southern part of the island was also evacuated and a new capital set up.

Sailors and aircrew from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Lyme Bay saw how the British Overseas Territory is faring now on a visit as part of a deployment to the Caribbean.

The ship’s Lynx helicopter – from 815 Naval Air Squadron, based at RNAS Yeovilton – surveyed Montserrat taking in Plymouth, which was buried under four feet of volcanic ash.

The aircraft discovered three marijuana sites in the abandoned area. The details were given to the Royal Montserrat Police.

Members of the crew took part in an exercise to test storm damage readiness, pitched in on community projects and played football against an island side during the three-day visit.

The Governor of Montserrat Elizabeth Carriere said: “We’d love to see Lyme Bay back socially but hope we don’t have to call on the ship’s outstanding assistance.”

The ship is on a six-month mission to provide assistance in the region during the hurricane season.

Lyme Bay was called into action earlier this month when tropical storm Erika hit Dominica causing damage totalling half the island’s annual income. As well as 100 RFA sailors, the landing ship dock carries 23 Royal Navy sailors, 27 Royal Marines and Royal Engineers – in a disaster relief unit – and 18 soldiers from the Royal Logistics Corps.

So far the deployment has also included visits to the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos archipelago.

For more on this story go to: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Royal-Navy-crews-return-island-ghost-town/story-27772623-detail/story.html#ixzz3lLoqYy00