HMS Ariadne (F72)
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Ariadne (F72) |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down: | 1 November 1969 |
| Launched: | 10 September 1971 |
| Commissioned: | 10 February 1973 |
| Decommissioned: | May 1992 |
| Fate: | Sold to Chile, 1992 |
| Career (Chile) |  |
| Name: | General Baquedano |
| Namesake: | Manuel Baquedano |
| Operator: | Chilean Navy |
| Commissioned: | 1992 |
| Decommissioned: | December 1998 |
| Fate: | Sunk as target in 2004 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Leander class frigate |
| Armament: | Twin 4.5 inch (114 mm) naval guns Oerlikon 20 mm cannon Sea Cat anti-aircraft missile launcher Limbo anti-submarine mortar |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × Westland Wasp helicopter |
HMS Ariadne (F72) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). Like the rest of the Leander-class, Ariadne was named after a figure of Greek mythology. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders of Scotstoun and was the last of the Leander-class to be completed and the last warship to be built for the RN powered by steam. Ariadne was launched on the 10th September 1971 and commissioned on the 10th February 1973.
In the year of her commission, Ariadne undertook a Fishery Protection Patrol during the Second Cod War with Iceland. In 1976, Ariadne completed a refit and the following year took part in the annual Group Deployment, visiting a variety of ports in South America and West Africa, as-well as performing naval exercises. Later that year, Ariadne took part in the Fleet Review of the Royal Navy, in celebration of HM the Queen's Silver Jubilee. She was positioned in the middle of HM ships Antelope and Jupiter. In 1979, Ariadne joined Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), a NATO multi-national squadron.
Ariadne was intended for modernisation, which would have included the removal of her one 4.5-in Mk.6 gun, which would have been replaced by the Exocet anti-ship missile, as-well as the addition of the Sea Wolf missile, but the 1981 Defence Review by the defence minister John Nott, cancelled the modernisation for Ariadne and other Batch Three ships. In 1981, Ariadne became the West Indies Guardship, and while there, performed a variety of duties in that region. In 1983, Ariadne shadowed the Soviet cruiser Slava, which had only been commissioned in 1982, while she was sailing off Ireland. It was a common practise during the Cold War, with Soviet warships also shadowing RN vessels quite often. In 1987, Ariadne joined the 6th Frigate Squadron.
Ariadne came out of refit in Rosyth Dockyard, Fife, Scotland, in 1989, and replaced HMS Juno in the Dartmouth Training Squadron. In 1990, in consort with HM ships Bristol and Minerva, she took part in Endeavour '90, a six-month circumnavigation of the globe. During this deployment she not only clocked up a milestone 500,000 miles, but was also one of the first RN warships to visit Dutch Harbour, in the Aleutian Islands, since Captain James Cook landed there in HM Bark Endeavour.
She was finally decommissioned in May 1992 and was subsequently sold to Chile, being renamed General Baquedano. She was decommissioned from the Chilean Navy in December 1998 and sunk as target in 2004.
HMS Ariadne has the distinction of being the last RN warship to fire a 'true' broadside.
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