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Royal Navy warship visits Hong Kong
Making a routine visit to Hong Kong this week is HMS Beaver, a Type 22 frigate currently taking part in Ocean Wave '97, the Royal Navy's seven-month deployment to the Far East.
HMS Beaver will arrive at approximately 9.30 am tomorrow (Thursday) and will berth alongside the new West Wall, on reclaimed land in Victoria Harbour, adjacent to the Prince of Wales Barracks. She will depart on Tuesday (May 6) for a four-day visit to Bangkok, Thailand, followed by a maintenance period in Singapore from May 30 to June 13. HMS Beaver then deploys to Ho Chi Min, Vietnam, the first British warship to visit the country since the 1970s.
Prior to her arrival in the territory HMS Beaver had participated in Exercise Flying Fish, an air defence and anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Malaysia with Five Power Defence Agreement partners Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
HMS Beaver, whose home port is Plymouth, in the United Kingdom, entered service in 1984. She has an overall length of 146.1 metre and a ship's complement of 250 personnel. She has two Tyne gas turbines for cruising and two Rolls Royce Olympus gas turbines for full power giving her a maximum speed of 30 knots.
The Type 22 frigate's primary role is anti-submarine warfare. Two Lynx anti- submarine helicopters can be carried and anti-submarine torpedo tubes are fitted. The Exocet surface-to-surface missile and Sea Wolf close-range air-defence missile systems provide an all-round defence capability.
HMS Beaver is commanded by Captain David Lewis.
Also arriving in Hong Kong, in company with HMS Beaver, is the Fleet replenishment vessel, Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort George. She will moor north of Peng Chau, in the western anchorage area.
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