History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Alacrity |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Commissioned | 2 July 1977 |
Decommissioned | 1 March 1994 |
Identification | Pennant number: F174 |
Motto |
|
Fate | Sold to Pakistan on 1 March 1994 |
Pakistan | |
Name | PNS Badr |
Commissioned | 1 March 1994 |
Decommissioned | April 2013 |
Status | Decommissioned |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type 21 frigate |
Displacement | 3,250 tons full load |
Length | 384 ft (117 m) |
Beam | 41 ft 9 in (12.73 m) |
Draught | 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
Range |
|
Complement | 177 |
Armament |
|
Aircraft carried | 1 × Westland Wasp helicopter, later refitted for 1 × Lynx |
HMS Alacrity was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy.
Alacrity was active during the Falklands War of 1982, where she sank a supply ship, survived Exocet-missile attacks and rescued men from the Atlantic Conveyor . She was transferred to Pakistan on 1 March 1994 and renamed PNS Badr.
Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, she was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position.
In 1977, Alacrity took part in the Fleet Review, of the Royal Navy at Spithead in celebration of HM the Queen's Silver Jubilee. [1] In 1980, "Alacrity" took part in a Far-East deployment. During a visit to Shanghai she was the first British warship to enter the Yangtse river since HMS Amethyst escaped in 1949. [2]
Alacrity participated in the Falklands War, departing Devonport on 5 April 1982 and captained by Commander Christopher Craig.
Alacrity was slightly damaged by an Argentine bomb on 1 May 1982. [3]
On the night of 10–11 May 1982 Alacrity was tasked to establish if the Argentines had mined the north entrance of Falkland Sound. [4] While approaching Swan Islands, she engaged and sank the 3000 ton Argentine supply ship ARA Isla de los Estados with her 4.5-inch gun. The Argentine transport blew up after a hit ignited her cargo of jet fuel and ammunition. [5] Fifteen crew members and seven servicemen (from all three armed forces and the coast guard) were killed, there were only two survivors. [6]
As Alacrity left the channel just before dawn, her sister ship Arrow was waiting to accompany her back to the Task Force, when the Argentine submarine, San Luis Captained by Fernando Azcueta fired two SST-4 torpedoes at a range of 5000 yards. One didn't leave its tube, the other missed and was heard to detonate after hitting the sea bottom. [7]
On 25 May, Alacrity sustained damage to her bow, while rescuing survivors from the SS Atlantic Conveyor, which had been struck by two Exocet missiles. [8]
As with the other surviving Type 21 frigates, Alacrity was suffering from cracking in her hull by the mid-1980s. She was taken in for refitting, and a steel plate was welded down each side of the ship.
In 1989, while deployed as West Indies guard ship, Alacrity was tasked for humanitarian relief on the island of Montserrat in the British West Indies after the island suffered devastation in the wake of Hurricane Hugo. The ship's Lynx helicopter was the sole means of transporting aid ashore as the port was destroyed.[ citation needed ]
Alacrity was decommissioned and transferred to Pakistan on 1 March 1994, being renamed Badr. Exocet was not transferred to Pakistan and Badr had her obsolete Sea Cat launcher removed and replaced with a Phalanx CIWS. Signaal DA08 air search radar replaced the Type 992 and SRBOC chaff launchers and new 20 mm and additional 30 mm guns were fitted. [9]
Between 11 and 21 May 2008, Badr participated in Exercise Inspired Union, a multi-national exercises in the North Arabian Sea. Other Pakistani warships included the frigate Shah Jahan and the replenishment tanker Nasr, as well as the Pakistan Air Force explosive ordnance disposal team, and the American destroyers Curts and Ross. [10]
Badr was decommissioned in April 2013 by the Pakistan Navy.
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A large number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat that is emitted by a ship; it is also possible for anti-ship missiles to be guided by radio command all the way.
HMS Conqueror was a British Churchill-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine which served in the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1990. She was the third submarine of her class, following the earlier Churchill and Courageous, that were all designed to face the Soviet threat at sea. She was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead.
This is a list of the naval forces from the United Kingdom that took part in the Falklands War, often referred to as "the Task Force" in the context of the war. For a list of naval forces from Argentina, see Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War.
The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
HMS Brilliant was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy.
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 Active was a Type 21-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Built by Vosper Thornycroft, Southampton, England, she was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position, the first of the class to be so fitted.
HMS Ambuscade was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland. She entered service in 1975. Ambuscade took part in the Falklands War of 1982.
HMS Arrow was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy.
HMS Glamorgan was a County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy with a displacement of 5,440 tonnes. The ship was built by Vickers-Armstrongs in Newcastle Upon Tyne and named after the Welsh county of Glamorgan.
Atlantic Conveyor was a British merchant navy ship, registered in Liverpool, that was requisitioned during the Falklands War.
This article describes the composition and actions of the Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War. For a list of naval forces from the United Kingdom, see British naval forces in the Falklands War.
ARA San Luis (S-32) was a Type 209 diesel-powered submarine of the Argentine Navy. Built in Germany, San Luis has a displacement of 1,285 tonnes and was commissioned in 1974. The submarine operated against the Royal Navy during the Falklands War without any noticeable success, but survived a number of anti-submarine sweeps carried out by British frigates. San Luis was struck in 1997 after an incomplete overhaul.
ARA Isla de los Estados was an Argentine Navy supply ship sunk during the Falklands War.
HMS Diomede (F16) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow. Diomede was launched on 15 April 1969 and commissioned on 2 April 1971. In 1998, the vessel was taken out of service and sold to Pakistan. Renamed PNS Shamsheer, the vessel served with the Pakistan Navy until being scrapped.
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.
HMS Tiger Bay was a Z-28-class patrol boat operated by the British Royal Navy, previously the Argentine Coast Guard vessel PNA Islas Malvinas (GC-82), which was seized at Port Stanley by the crew of HMS Cardiff on 14 June 1982 following the Argentine surrender during the Falklands War.
PNS Badr (D-184) was the Tariq-class destroyer that served in the Surface Command of the Pakistan Navy from 1994 until being decommissioned from the service in 2014.
The Falklands Naval Station was the main base of the naval component of Argentina in the Falklands Islands, during the South Atlantic conflict of 1982.
Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.