HMS St Albans outward bound from Portsmouth Naval Base |
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| Career (UK) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS St Albans |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Ordered: | February 1996 |
| Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down: | 18 April 1999 |
| Launched: | 6 May 2000 |
| Commissioned: | 6 June 2002 |
| Homeport: | Portsmouth |
| Nickname: | "The Saint"[1] |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| Badge: | |
| 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: |
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| Aircraft carried: |
1 x Lynx HMA8 or Merlin HM1 helicopter
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HMS St Albans 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. She is based in Portsmouth.
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The ship was launched on the River Clyde on Saturday 6 May 2000.[4] She was built at BAE Systems' Yarrows Yard in Scotstoun, Glasgow.
On the 27 October 2002, before she had even entered operational service, St Albans was struck by the P&O ferry Pride of Portsmouth when gale force winds pushed the ferry into the ship whilst secure on her berth in Portsmouth. St Albans suffered damage to the gun deck, the sea boat supports (davits) and the bridge wing. However, no members of the crew were injured.[5]
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, 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.[6] 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).
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 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 (Operation Highbrow).[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]
Following the ship's successful 6-month tour, St Albans underwent maintenance. During this time, the ship received a new commanding officer, Commander Mark Newland RN. He took over from Commander Steve Dainton RN, commanding officer for the previous two years. The ship stayed in British waters, participated in submarine training in the Irish Sea, weapon training off the south coast and visited 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.
In May 2007, St Albans entered a period of maintenance that lasted over a year. The maintenance programme took place in dry dock, situated in Rosyth. Many systems were overhauled and replaced and the ship's crew temporarily re-assigned to other vessels while the ship underwent work. A skeleton crew of engineers supervised the work for the year. Included in the maintenance was the installation of a new Type 2087 sonar system and a conversion to allow the operation of Merlin helicopters, making the ship one of the Fleet’s most advanced frigates.[10]
The upgrade took 15 months and cost £15 million. The ship then returned to its home port of Portsmouth and was accepted back into the fleet in July 2008. The ship was then put through various equipment tests & training routines throughout the later part of the year.
St Albans left Portsmouth on 19 January 2009 to conduct maritime security patrols in the Mediterranean. The ship joined a NATO Task Group in the Mediterranean and will be protecting busy shipping trade routes. St Albans was also a part of the NATO Response Force (NRF), capable of being deployed anywhere that NATO decides at short notice. The ship also visited ports in Majorca, Italy and Egypt whilst in the region. She arrived on the Clyde on 7 May 2009 at 1500hrs, heading for Faslane.
St Albans was deployed in the Gulf until mid-2010. She left Portsmouth on 1000hrs on Monday 1 February. Her deployment included supporting international efforts in "tackling piracy, illegal trafficking, and smuggling."[11]
Later in the deployment St Albans helped the Iraqi government "protect their oil platforms, and provide security to ensure regional stability".[12]
In July 2010 after completing her tour in the Middle East, she visited Grand Harbour, Malta for four days on her way back to the United Kingdom.[13]
The warship helped in the recovery and evacuation of a diver who had got in to difficulties near Salcombe on 26 March 2011, although the diver was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.[14]
On 1 July 2011, St Albans rescued 13 sailors of the coast of Oman from the stricken tanker MV Pavit, which had spent three days drifting in a heavy storm after losing power. St Albans used her Merlin helicopter embarked from 829 Naval Air Squadron to winch the crew to safety. The rescued sailors were later transferred to their sister ship, the MV Jag Pushpa. After operating in the Middle East conducting counter-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, having relieved the frigate HMS Iron Duke,[15][16] she returned to Portsmouth in December 2011.[17]
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