HMS Cumberland (F85)
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 HMS Cumberland and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower |
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Cumberland |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down: | 12 October 1984 |
| Launched: | 21 June 1986 |
| Commissioned: | 10 June 1989 |
| Homeport: | HMNB Devonport |
| Motto: | Tenacious of Justice |
| Fate: | Active in service as of 2008 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type 22 frigate |
| Displacement: | 5,300 tons |
| Length: | 148.1 m (486 ft 9 in) |
| Beam: | 14.8 m (48 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × Rolls-Royce Spey gas turbines (high speed) |
| Speed: | cruise 18 knots (33 km/h), max. 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 250 (max. 301) |
| Armament: | 1 × 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mk.8 gun Goalkeeper close-in weapons system (CIWS) Sea Wolf anti-missile system 2 × Quad Harpoon missile launchers 2 × 20 mm Close range guns NATO Seagnat Decoy Launchers |
| Aircraft carried: |
Lynx Mk.8 helicopters Sea Skua anti-ships missiles Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedoes Mk 11 depth charges Machine guns |
HMS Cumberland (F85) is a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was on station during the First Gulf War. On 26 September 2000 Cumberland worked with local fishermen to aid the rescue of survivors of the Greek ferry Express Samina which ran aground two miles off the island of Paros. Cumberland is currently part of the Devonport Flotilla and is based at Devonport Dockyard.
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[edit] Service
In 2003 HMS Cumberland (in partnership with RFA Wave Knight) seized 3.6 tonnes of cocaine in the mid-Atlantic as part of an anti-drug operation. In October 2005 HMS Cumberland intercepted and boarded a speed boat in the Caribbean Sea off Nicaragua from which they seized two tonnes of cocaine, and detained four suspects. The cocaine is estimated to have a street value of £200 million.
[edit] Points of interest
This is one of the only British ships to have test fired a Harpoon missile. The dummy target was over the horizon approx 25 miles away and the missile reached it.
On commissioning she became part of the Sixth Frigate Squadron (F6). HMS Cornwall was the lead ship in this Frigate Squadron. Ships of this Type would usually have an officer of the rank of Commander as their Commanding Officer, unless they were the lead ship in the Squadron where a full Captain would not only command that ship, but also be the Commanding Officer of the Squadron. Her first Commanding Officer was therefore unusual in that he was a full Captain called Mike Gregory who was actually a submariner. Captain Gregory was previously awarded the OBE for the longest continuously submerged patrol in Royal Navy history.
Chris Cranmer, the first registered Satanist serving in the Royal Navy, was a technician on board this vessel as of 2004.
On May 18, 2006, the Cumberland escorted Dee Caffari, sailing Aviva, across the finish-line (at Lizard Point) as she became the first woman to sail single-handedly non-stop around the world "the wrong way" (against the prevailing wind and tide) - a feat first achieved by Chay Blyth.
[edit] Affiliations
- The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)
- County of Cumbria
- Worshipful Company of Glovers
[edit] External links
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