4th Frigate Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | July 1948 – August 2004 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Navy |
Size | Squadron |
Commanders | |
First | Captain Ralph C. Medley |
Last | Captain Mark Anderson |
The 4th Frigate Squadron was an operational squadron of the Royal Navy from 1948 to 2004.
During its existence, the squadron included Loch-class, Whitby-class, Rothesay-class, Leander-class, Type 21 and Type 23 frigates.
From January 1949 the squadron was with the Far East Fleet, including HMS Cardigan Bay (K630), HMS Morecambe Bay, and HMS Mounts Bay. [1] Ships of the squadron saw service in the Korean War, the Beira Patrol, the Cod Wars, the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, the Falklands War and the Second Gulf War.
In the 1970s Juno was one of the six Leanders used as the fictional "HMS Hero" for the BBC TV drama series Warship . All members of the crew were given Hero cap tallies for filming purposes.
The squadron was made up of Amazon class frigates in the 1980s. Except for HMS Amazon (F169), [2] all the Amazon-class frigates took part in the 1982 Falklands War. [3] They were worked hard, performing extensive shore-bombardment missions and providing anti-submarine and anti-aircraft defence for the task force.
The squadron disbanded in 2004.
Commander | Ship | Dates |
---|---|---|
Captain Ralph C. Medley | HMS Cardigan Bay | July 1948-January 1950 |
Captain Walter L.M. Brown | HMS Cardigan Bay | January 1950-August 1951 |
Captain Hugh C.B. Coleridge | HMS Cardigan Bay | August 1951-February 1953 |
Captain Bryan C. Durant | HMS Cardigan Bay | February 1953-October 1954 |
Captain E. Nigel Pumphrey | HMS Cardigan Bay | October 1954-April 1956 |
Captain John R.G. Trechman | HMS Eastbourne | June 1959-January 1961 |
Captain John C. Cartwright | HMS Plymouth | January 1961-February 1963 |
Captain Edward L. Cook | HMS Plymouth | February–April 1963 |
Captain Edward R. Anson | HMS Juno | December 1974-May 1976 |
Captain Charles E.T. Baker | HMS Cleopatra | May 1976-January 1977 |
Captain John M. Webster | HMS Cleopatra | January 1977-November 1978 |
Captain John M. Tait | HMS Cleopatra | November 1978-March 1981 |
Captain Hugo M. White | HMS Avenger | March 1981-August 1982 |
Captain A. Peter Woodhead | HMS Avenger | August 1982-September 1983 |
Captain A. Bruce Richardson | HMS Avenger | September 1983-March 1985 |
Captain Christopher J.S. Craig | HMS Avenger | March 1985-September 1986 |
Captain Ian D.G. Garnett | HMS Active | September 1986-February 1988 |
Captain A. James G. Miller | HMS Marlborough | 1997-June 1999 |
Captain Anthony J. Rix | HMS Marlborough | June 1999-December 2000 |
Captain Duncan L. Potts | HMS Marlborough | December 2000-August 2002 |
Captain Mark Anderson | HMS Marlborough | August 2002 – 2004 |
The Type 21 frigate, or Amazon-class frigate, was a British Royal Navy general-purpose escort that was designed in the late 1960s, built in the 1970s and served throughout the 1980s into the 1990s.
HMS Amazon was the first Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy. Her keel was laid down at the Vosper Thornycroft shipyard in Southampton, England. The ship suffered a fire in the Far East in 1977, drawing attention to the risk of building warships with aluminium superstructure.
The Leander-class, or Type 12I (Improved) frigates, comprising twenty-six vessels, was among the most numerous and long-lived classes of frigate in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1959 and 1973. It had an unusually high public profile, due to the popular BBC television drama series Warship. The Leander silhouette became synonymous with the Royal Navy through the 1960s until the 1980s.
HMS Andromeda was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built at HM Dockyard Portsmouth. She was launched on 24 May 1967 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 2 December 1968. She took part in the Falklands War. She was sold to India in 1995, for use as a training ship, being renamed INS Krishna. She was finally decommissioned in May 2012.
HMS Ajax was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by the famous Cammell Laird company of Birkenhead. Ajax was launched on 16 August 1962 and commissioned on 10 December 1963. She was originally intended to be named HMS Fowey, and laid down as a Rothesay class, but instead became part of Batch 1 of the Leander class.
Sea Wolf is a naval surface-to-air missile system designed and built by BAC, later to become British Aerospace (BAe) Dynamics, and now MBDA. It is an automated point-defence weapon system designed as a short-range defence against both sea-skimming and high angle anti-ship missiles and aircraft. The Royal Navy has fielded two versions, the GWS-25 Conventionally Launched Sea Wolf (CLSW) and the GWS-26 Vertically Launched Sea Wolf (VLSW) forms. In Royal Navy service Sea Wolf is being replaced by Sea Ceptor.
HMS Plymouth was a Royal Navy Rothesay-class frigate. In 1982, Plymouth was one of the first Royal Navy ships to arrive in the South Atlantic during the Falklands War.
HMS Cleopatra (F28) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). Cleopatra was built at HMNB Devonport. She was launched on 21 March 1964, commissioned on 1 March 1966 and decommissioned on 31 January 1992.
HMS Apollo was a batch 3B broadbeam Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was, like the rest of the class, named after a figure of mythology. Apollo was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders of Scotstoun. She was launched on 15 October 1970 and commissioned on 28 May 1972, making her the penultimate Leander.
HMS Sirius (F40) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN) built by H.M. Dockyard Portsmouth, and was the penultimate RN warship to be built there for a period of forty years, until Vosper Thornycroft built HMS Clyde. Sirius was launched on 22 September 1964 and commissioned on 15 June 1966. The ship continued in front line service until February 1992.
HMS Danae was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was, like the rest of the class, named after a figure of mythology. Danae was built by Devonport Dockyard. She was launched on 31 October 1965 and commissioned on 10 October 1967.
HMS Phoebe (F42) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was, like the rest of her class, named after a figure of mythology. Built by Alexander Stephen and Sons on the River Clyde, she was launched on 19 December 1964 and commissioned on 15 May 1966.
HMS Yarmouth was the first modified Type 12 frigate of the Rothesay class to enter service with the Royal Navy.
The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Naval Service. In its last years, as the Navy shrank, more administrative responsibilities were added.
The Rothesay class, or Type 12M frigates were a class of frigates serving with the Royal Navy, South African Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy.
HMNZS Waikato (F55) was a Leander Batch 2TA frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). She was one of two Leanders built for the RNZN, the other being the Batch 3 HMNZS Canterbury. These two New Zealand ships relieved British ships of the Armilla patrol during the Falklands conflict, freeing British ships for deployment.
HMNZS Canterbury (F421) was one of two broad beam Leander-class frigates operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from 1971 to 2005. She was built in Scotland and launched in 1970. Commissioned in 1971, Canterbury saw operational service in much of Australasia and other regions like the Persian Gulf. She undertook operations such as supporting UN sanctions against Iraq and peace-keeping in East Timor. With her sister ship HMNZS Waikato she relieved the Royal Navy frigate HMS Amazon in the Indian Ocean during the Falklands War. Early in HMNZS Canterbury's career, in 1973, she relieved the frigate HMNZS Otago, as part of a unique, Anzac, naval operation or exercise at Moruroa during anti-nuclear protests, supported by a large RAN tanker, providing fuel and a large platform for Australian media. This was due to F 421 being a more modern RNZN frigate, with then current Rn surveillance radar and ESM and a more effectively insulated frigate from nuclear fallout, with the Improved Broad Beam Leander steam plant, for example, being remote controlled and capable of unmanned operation and therefore the ship provided a more effective sealed citadel for operations in areas of nuclear explosions.
829 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Before it was decommissioned in March 2018, it operated the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 helicopter.
The 5th Frigate Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1946 to 1980.
The 6th Frigate Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1950 to 2002.