HMS Fife (D20)
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 HMS Fife |
|
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Fife |
| Laid down: | 1 June 1962 |
| Launched: | 9 July 1964 |
| Commissioned: | 21 June 1966 |
| Decommissioned: | June1987 |
| Fate: | Sold to Chile on 12 August 1987 |
| Career (Chile) |  |
| Name: | Blanco Encalada |
| Acquired: | August 1987 |
| Commissioned: | 1988 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 December 2003 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap in November 2005 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | County class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 6,200 tonnes 6,800 tonnes (full load) |
| Length: | 158.9 metres (521 ft) |
| Beam: | 16 metres (52 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.2 metres (20 ft) |
| Propulsion: | COSAG (Combined steam and gas) turbines, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 30+ knots |
| Range: | 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 28 knots (52 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 440-471 |
| Armament: | As Blanco Encalada 1 × 4.5-inch (114 mm) gun 4 × MM-38 Exocet missile launchers 8 × Barak SAM |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × Cougar helicopters |
HMS Fife (D20) was the first unit of the Batch 2 County-class destroyers of the Royal Navy. She had 'B' turret removed and replaced with four Exocet launchers in the mid-1970s. In 1979, Fife provided assistance to the Caribbean island of Dominica after the island was hit severely by Hurricane David. She was under refit during the Falklands War and so did not take part in the conflict.
In 1986 Fife underwent a refit to convert her into a moving training ship, her Sea Slug missile system being removed. This was completed in June 1986. This created space for extra messdecks and classrooms for officers under training (OUTs). One messdeck still used hammocks and these OUTs are possibly the last men in the Royal Navy to sleep in hammocks. In September 1986 she undertook a Dartmouth Training Ship (DTS) deployment to the West Indies returning to Portsmouth early December. She decommissioned in June 1987 and was sold to Chile on 12 August 1987 and renamed Blanco Encalada.
The ship was taken into refit at Talcahuano upon her arrival, and, taking advantage of the removed Sea Slug, Blanco Encalada's deck was extended aft and a new, larger hangar constructed. The rebuild was completed in May 1988. In 1996 she was fitted with the "Barak" surface to air missiles by removing the Seacat launchers. Blanco Encalada was decommissioned from the Chilean Navy on 12 December 2003 and was sold for scrap in November 2005.
[edit] See also
- List of ship launches in 1964
- List of ship commissionings in 1966
- List of ship commissionings in 1987
- List of ship decommissionings in 1987
- List of ship decommissionings in 2003
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