HMS Ambuscade (F172)

Last updated

HMS Ambuscade (F172).jpg
Ambuscade firing her 4.5-inch gun
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Ambuscade
Builder Yarrow Shipbuilders
Yard number1008
Laid down1 September 1971
Launched18 January 1973
Commissioned5 September 1975
Decommissioned28 July 1993
Identification Pennant number: F172
Motto
  • Tempori insidior
  • ("I bide my time")
FateSold to Pakistan on 28 July 1993
NotesTo be returned to the United Kingdom for preservation as a museum ship
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  nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
  • 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement177
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × Westland Wasp helicopter, later refitted for 1 × Westland Lynx

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.

Contents

Ambuscade was sold to Pakistan in 1993 and is still in service as PNS Tariq.

Service history

Ambuscade was launched on 18 January 1973 by Lady Griffin, wife of the Controller of the Navy, and was commissioned at Devonport on 5 September 1975. [1] During 1976 and 1977 her commander was Peter Abbott who subsequently attained Flag rank. [2]

Ambuscade took part in the Falklands War of 1982, serving as an Electronic Warfare picket ship to the Task Force, and taking part in several bombardments of Argentine positions. [1] On 25 May Ambuscade was targeted by two Exocet missiles fired by Argentine Super Étendard strike aircraft. Ambuscade detected the aircraft at 30 miles and the missile launch at 22 miles, first with radar then visually, and fired chaff decoys in an attempt to confuse the missiles' seekers. Both missiles then locked on to SS Atlantic Conveyor impacting her port quarter, and setting her on fire. Atlantic Conveyor sank whilst under tow on 28 May. [3] On the night of 13 June she fired 228 4.5-inch shells in support of 2 Para's assault of Wireless Ridge.

On 27 April 1983, Ambuscade was conducting tactical manoeuvres with ships of the United States Navy in the Indian Ocean. During the course of the exercise, she collided with the guided missile cruiser USS Dale, resulting in part of her bow being torn away. [4] Ambuscade was laid up in Bombay for six weeks while a new bow was constructed and fitted. [5] Whilst laid up, some of the crew performed as extras in the film On Wings of Fire. There was enough damage to have Dale dry docked when she returned to Jacksonville, Florida.[ citation needed ]Ambuscade was in collision with the trawler Ester Colleen in heavy fog off Torbay on 26 October 1983. The trawler was badly holed in the collision. [6]

From November 1983 to February 1984, Ambuscade served as a West Indies Guardship. [7] [8] On 8 June 1984, Ambuscade went to the assistance of the schooner Stena of Sitoo, which had struck an object in the North Sea and been holed below the waterline. [9]

In late 1984, suffering from cracking in her hull, she was taken in for refitting, with a steel plate being welded down each side of the ship. At the same time modifications were made to reduce hull noise and four Exocet launchers were added in front of the bridge.

In 1993, she was decommissioned and sold to Pakistan and recommissioned as PNS Tariq, and remains in active service.

In December 2021, it was announced that it was hoped that when decommissioned, she could be returned to the United Kingdom for preservation as a museum ship. [10]

In February 2023, it was announced that the Royal Navy was backing the plan to return her to the United Kingdom and will be preserved in Glasgow. [11]

List of deployments [12]
FromToDetailNote
19751976Sea trials
19771977 Standing Naval Force Atlantic 6 months
197819785th Frigate Squadron and cruiser HMS Blake. Western Atlantic and Pacific5 months
19791979UK waters
19791979Belize and West Indies Guardship
19801980Refit at Devonport
19811982Sea training. Armilla Patrol
19821982South Atlantic (Falklands War)
19831983Collision while on Armilla Patrol
19831984West Indies Guardship
19841986Refit at Devonport
19861987Falklands Guardship
19881988West Indies Guardship
19891989UK and Europe
19901990Falklands Guardship
19911991West Indies Guardship
19921992Falklands Guardship
19931993Sold to the Pakistan Navy
Ambuscade at the HM Dockyard Bermuda in 1988 HMS Ambuscade in Bermuda.jpg
Ambuscade at the HM Dockyard Bermuda in 1988

Related Research Articles

<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>Amazon</i> (F169) 1974 Type 21 or Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy

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.

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>Alacrity</i> (F174) Type 21 or Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy

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

HMS <i>Avenger</i> (F185) Type 21 or Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy

HMS Avenger was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, she was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position.

HMS <i>Glamorgan</i> (D19) Destroyer 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.

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.

HMS <i>Andromeda</i> (F57) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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 Minerva (F45) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship commissioned in 1966 and took part in the Beira Patrol and Second Cod War during the 1970s and the Falklands War in 1982. Charles, Prince of Wales served aboard the ship in the 1970s. Between these major engagements, the frigate patrolled British territorial waters and took part in NATO and British military exercises. Minerva was decommissioned in 1992 and sold for scrap.

HMS <i>Plymouth</i> (F126) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Cleopatra</i> (F28) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Apollo</i> (F70) Frigate of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Yarmouth</i> (F101) 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.

PNS <i>Tariq</i> (D-181)

PNS Tariq (DDG-181) was the lead ship of the Tariq-class destroyers in the Surface Command of the Pakistan Navy that served in the military service from 1993 until 2023. Prior to being commissioned in the Pakistan Navy, she served in the Royal Navy, as general purpose frigate HMS Ambuscade.

<i>Tariq</i>-class destroyer Class of guided-missile warships that were transferred by the Royal Navy to Pakistan

The Tariq-class destroyers were a class of guided missile destroyers of the Pakistan Navy. They were acquired from the British Royal Navy in 1993–94. The Tariqs were formerly commissioned in the Royal Navy's Surface Fleet as Type 21 (Amazon-class) frigates, a general purpose frigate in the Royal Navy.

PNS Tariq may refer to one of the following ships of the Pakistan Navy:

PNS <i>Babur</i> (D-182) Tariq-class destroyer in the Pakistan Navy (1993-2015)

PNS Babur (D-182) was a Tariq-class destroyer that served in the Surface Command of the Pakistan Navy from 1993 until being decommissioned in 2014. Before commissioning in the Pakistan Navy, she served in the Royal Navy, formerly designated as HMS Amazon as a general purpose frigate.

PNS <i>Badr</i> (D-184) Ship of the Pakistani 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.

PNS <i>Tippu Sultan</i> (D-185) Pakistani naval ship

PNS Tippu Sultan (DDG-185), a Tariq-class destroyer, served in the Pakistan Navy after it was acquired in 1994. Her design was based on the British Type 21 frigate, and previously served in the Royal Navy as HMS Avenger as a general purpose frigate.

PNS <i>Shah Jahan</i> (D-186)

PNS Shah Jahan (DDG-186) was a Tariq-class destroyer in service with the Pakistan Navy since being recommissioned in 1994. Based on the British design, Type 21 frigate, she previously served in the Royal Navy as HMS Active as a general purpose frigate.

References

  1. 1 2 Gough, Richie (30 August 2014). "Ambuscade Service History". Type 21 Club. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  2. ↑ Gough, Richie (30 August 2014). "HMS Ambuscade (F172)". Type 21 Club. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  3. ↑ The Atlantic Conveyor, Think Defence, 14 July 2021
  4. ↑ "HMS Ambuscade". ClydeBuilt Database. 5 March 2004. Archived from the original on 6 November 2004. Retrieved 8 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ↑ "Collision with USS Dale 1983". HMS Ambuscade Association. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  6. ↑ "Trawler holed". The Times . No. 61674. 27 October 1983. p. 3.
  7. ↑ Critchley 1992 , p. 137
  8. ↑ "Ambuscade changes the guard" (PDF). Navy News . March 1984. p. 14. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Air-sea aid for holed schooner". The Times. No. 61853. London. 9 June 1984. col A, B, p. 3.
  10. ↑ "Hope of bringing "Awesome Amazon" home to the Clyde". HMS Ardent Association. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Falklands warship launched in 1973 to be turned into museum". 21 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "RN Career and Programme". HMS Ambuscade Association. Retrieved 9 October 2019.

Bibliography

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.