Ships at Bay

Huge warships from navies around Europe have arrived in Cardiff for the Nato summit in Wales.

French Nave ship La Motte Picquet arrived in Cardiff Bay shortly yesterday, greeted by crowds of hundreds. It joined British Navy destroyer HMS Duncan, which docked on Tuesday.

Schoolchildren, mums and dads, grans and grandparents came to see the second large warship to arrive at the Welsh capital's Roath Basin as part of a display of Nato naval power ahead of the summit which begins in Newport today.

They are bristling with missiles systems, radars and anti-aircraft weaponry and collectively displaying billions of pounds worth of weaponry.

HMS Duncan alone cost £1bn. It squeezed into Cardiff Bay with very little space on either side between it and the dock.

It is set to be the location for one of the three working dinners taking place in the city tonight, WalesOnline reports.

For days already, US military helicopters have been seen circling the skies of South Wales, with President Barack Obama arriving last night.

The French ship was towed into Cardiff Bay’s system of locks, taking about two hours to reach Roath Basin.

La Motte Piquet is one of the most famous names in the French navy having been held by four ships named in honour of the 18th Century admiral Count Toussaint-Guillaume Piquet de la Motte. The current vessel to hold the name is an anti-submarine destroyer .

The Royal Navy’s HMS Biter patrol boat and HMS Express fast patrol boat will also be part of the contingent.

The M-05 Viesturs ship from Latvia, a minehunter, is currently already docked at the Roath Basin site.

They are set to be joined by Dutch minesweeper HNLMS Urk, a superfast missile patrol boat decked out in camouflage colours called HNoMS Skudd from Norway, and the German-built minesweeper LNS Kursis from Lithuania.