The current HMS Manchester is the third ship to bear that name, the first being a hired vessel that was used as a stores ship in 1814. Following these humble beginnings, over a century passed before the next HMS Manchester entered service in 1937 as a Town-class light cruiser belonging to the Gloucester subclass.

During the Second World War, the second HMS Manchester saw service in the ill-fated Norwegian Campaign, at the battle of Spartivento against an Italian cruiser squadron and in the Arctic and Maltese convoys of 1941 and 1942. She was torpedoed by an Italian E-boat whilst escorting the Pedestal Convoy off the coast of Tunisia on 13 August 1942 and was later scuttled by her crew.

The current HMS Manchester is a Type 42 Batch 3 Destroyer and is approaching her third decade of service in the Royal Navy, however through extensive modernisation, remains one of the most potent weapons platforms in the world. HMS Manchester will continue to serve the United Kingdom, NATO and the United Nations well into the next decade until she is replaced by the Type 45 Daring Class Destroyers.