HMS Alacrity (F174)

Last updated

HMS Alacrity (F174).jpg
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Alacrity
Builder Yarrow Shipbuilders
Commissioned2 July 1977
Decommissioned1 March 1994
Identification Pennant number: F174
Motto
  • Adjuvero propero
  • (Latin: "I hasten to help")
FateSold to Pakistan on 1 March 1994
Naval Ensign of Pakistan.svgPakistan
NamePNS Badr
Commissioned1 March 1994
DecommissionedApril 2013
StatusDecommissioned
General characteristics
Class and type Type 21 frigate
Displacement3,250 tons full load
Length384 ft (117 m)
Beam41 ft 9 in (12.73 m)
Draught19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion
Speed32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range
  • 4,000 nautical miles at 17 knots (7,400 km at 31 km/h)
  • 1,200 nautical miles at 30 knots (2,220 km at 56 km/h)
Complement177
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × Westland Wasp helicopter, later refitted for 1 × Lynx

HMS Alacrity was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy.

Contents

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.

Background

Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, she was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position.

Royal Navy service

1977–1981

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]

Falklands War

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]

1982–1994

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 ]

Pakistan Navy service

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.

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exocet</span> French anti-ship missile

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 <i>Brilliant</i> (F90) 1981 Type 22 or Broadsword-class frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Brilliant was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy.

Type 21 frigate Class of general purpose frigates built for 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 <i>Active</i> (F171) Royal Navy frigate of the Type 21, Amazon Class

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 <i>Ambuscade</i> (F172) Type 21 or Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy

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 <i>Arrow</i> (F173) Type 21 or Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy

HMS Arrow was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Glamorgan</i> (D19) County-class guided missile destroyer of the Royal Navy and Chilean 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.

SS <i>Atlantic Conveyor</i> British merchant navy ship

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 <i>San Luis</i> (S-32)

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; as of 2020, its hull remained stored at Domecq Garcia Shipyard (Tandanor).

HMS <i>Charybdis</i> (F75) 1969 Type 12I or Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Charybdis (F75) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was built by the Harland & Wolff company of Belfast, and was the last ship to be built there for British naval forces until RFA Fort Victoria of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, was launched in 1990. Charybdis was launched on 28 February 1968 and commissioned on 2 June 1969. Her nickname was "Cherry B".

HMS <i>Diomede</i> (F16) Type 12I or Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy

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 1988, 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 <i>Onyx</i> (S21) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Onyx was an Oberon-class submarine of the Royal Navy.

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 <i>Yarmouth</i> (F101) 1960 Type 12M or Rothesay-class frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Yarmouth was the first modified Type 12 frigate of the Rothesay class to enter service with the Royal Navy.

ARA <i>Hércules</i> (B-52)

ARA Hércules was a former Type 42 destroyer of the Argentine Navy, which was transformed into a multi-purpose transport ship with the pennant number B-52 and assigned to the amphibious force in 1999. She was formally decommissioned in 2024 after having been non-operational for several years.

HMS <i>Tiger Bay</i> Royal Navy patrol boat that was captured from the Argentine Coast Guard in the Falklands War.

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 <i>Badr</i> (D-184) Decommissioned Tariq-class guided missile destroyer of the Pakistan Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falklands Naval Station</span>

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.

References

  1. ↑ Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO
  2. ↑ Personal information, UK Parliament Hansard vol 981 Tuesday 25 March 1980
  3. ↑ Battle Atlas of the Falklands War by Land, Sea and Air by Gordon Smith, 1989 - List of British ships lost and damaged
  4. ↑ One Hundred Days, Admiral Sandy Woodward, Pages 280 and 281. ISBN   978-0-00-713467-0
  5. ↑ Mayorga, Horacio A.: No Vencidos. Ed. Planeta, Buenos Aires, 1998, page 320. ISBN   950-742-976-X (in Spanish)
  6. ↑ ARA Isla de los Estados - 1982 War
  7. ↑ Argentine Fight for the Falklands, Martin Middlebrook page 132. ISBN   978-1-84-415888-1
  8. ↑ "Alacrity dodges four Exocets". Navy News. August 1982. p. 23.
  9. ↑ Pakistan Navy as a four-strong group of frigate warships
  10. ↑ Lt. (j.g.) Bryan Boggs, USN (6 June 2008). "USS Curts, Pakistani Navy Participate in Officer Exchange Program". NNS080602-12. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs. Retrieved 27 December 2010.

Publications

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.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.