HMS St Albans (F83)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 HMS St Albans (F83) |
|
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS St Albans (F83) |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Ordered: | February 1996 |
| Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down: | 18 April 1999 |
| Launched: | 6 May 2000 |
| Commissioned: | 6 June 2002 |
| Fate: | Active in service as of 2008 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate |
| Displacement: | 4,900 tonnes |
| Length: | 133 m (463 ft 3 in) |
| Beam: | 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) |
| Draught: | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion: | CODLAG (Combined Diesel-eLectric And Gas) 2 × Rolls-Royce Spey boost gas-turbines 4 × Paxman Valenta diesel engines 2 × GEC electric motors |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h) 15 knots (28 km/h) on diesel-electric |
| Range: | 7,800 nautical miles (14,400 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | 185 |
| Armament: | 2 × ASuW Harpoon quad launchers Vertical launch system Sea Wolf missiles 1 × BAE 4.5 inch (110 mm) Mk 8 gun 2 × Oerlikon 30 mm guns 4 × Sting Ray torpedo tubes Seagnat and DFL3 decoy launchers |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × Lynx HMA8 or Merlin HM1 helicopter |
HMS St Albans (F83) is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the sixth ship to bear the name and is the sixteenth and final ship in the Duke class of frigates.
Her current commanding officer is Commander Adrian K M Pierce RN, who took command in early 2008. Her base is Portsmouth.
Contents |
[edit] History
The ship was launched on Saturday 6th May 2000. It was built at BAE Systems' Yarrows Yard in Scotstoun, Glasgow and was launched on the Clyde.
On the 27 October 2002, before it had even entered into operational service, HMS St Albans collided with the P&O ferry Pride of Portsmouth when gale force winds pushed the ferry into the ship whilst returning to her berth in Portsmouth. HMS St Albans was damaged in several parts of the deck, the gun deck, the sea boat supports and the bridge wing. However, no members of the crew were injured.
In 2004, Commander Steve Dainton RN took command and the ship was deployed on Operation Oracle duties in the Arabian Sea.
In July 2004 the crew were granted Freedom of the City by the Mayor of St Albans.
On the 13 February 2006, HMS St Albans departed on a six-month deployment to the Gulf region. She arrived in the region in early April, where her tasks included protecting Iraqi oil platforms as well as patrol duties in the northern Gulf. During the trip, she provided a diplomatic role by visiting 16 countries, including Algeria, Albania, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lebanon (before the 2006 conflict with Israel.)
[edit] Evacuation of British citizens from Lebanon
As of the 12 July 2006, the ship had completed her tour in the Gulf and had begun her long journey back to Portsmouth. However, on the same day, the conflict between Israel and Lebanon began. As a result, it was announced on Monday 17 July by The Ministry of Defence that HMS St Albans, which was on a route that would take it through the eastern Mediterranean (via the Suez canal), had been redeployed to assist in the evacuation of British citizens trapped in Lebanon. She arrived in the area on Thursday 20 July and on Friday 21 July she picked up 243 evacuees from the dock in Beirut and safely transported them to Cyprus. After completing her role in the evacuation, she remained on operational stand-by in the vicinity of Beirut for a short time before being ordered to return home, their original aim. The ship finally arrived back in Portsmouth on 18 August 2006.
[edit] After the tour
Following the ship's successful 6-month tour, the ship underwent maintenance. During this time, the ship received a new CO, Commander Mark Newland RN. He has taken over from Commander Steve Dainton RN, CO for the past two years. Since the maintenance, the ship has stayed in British waters, participating in submarine training in the Irish Sea, weapon training off the south coast and visiting Glasgow on the 11 November 2006 to take part in Remembrance Sunday events. From 5 January until 15 January 2007 the ship was open to the public as part of the London Boat Show. Following this, the ship conducted various training exercises and engineering trials in the UK. The ships crew then went on Easter leave before returning to conduct more training activities.
[edit] Current status
In May 2007, HMS St Albans entered a period of maintenance that is scheduled to last for a year. The maintenance program is currently taking place in dry-dock, situated in Rosyth. Many systems are being over-hauled and replaced and the ship's crew have been temporarily re-assigned to other vessels while the ship is undergoing work and a skeleton crew of engineers are currently overseeing the work for the year ahead. Included in its maintenance will be the installation of a new sonar system and a conversion to allow the operation of Merlin helicopters, making the ship one of the Fleet’s most advanced frigates.
On the 20th May 2008, the ship's maintenance was reported to be in its finishing stages with tests of its new equipment scheduled to begin on the 30th May 2008.
[edit] Affiliations
[edit] References
- BBC News - Launch of HMS St Albans (6 May 2000)
- BBC News - 'Navy frigate damaged in ferry collision' (27 October 2002)
- Royal Navy - 'HMS St Albans: Gulf Deployment' (15 Feb 2006)
- Ministry of Defence - Over 3,500 evacuated from Lebanon by British Forces (21 July 2006)
- Royal Navy - HMS St Albans in the Lebanon (24 July 2006)
- Royal Navy - 'Lebanon Evacuation Warship Returns to Portsmouth' (18 August 2006)
- Royal Navy - 'Multi- Million Pound Upgrade for Royal Navy’s HMS St Albans' (16th July 2007)
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
