This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2013) |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Berwick (F115) |
Operator | Royal Navy |
Builder | Harland and Wolff |
Laid down | 16 June 1958 |
Launched | 15 December 1959 |
Completed | 1 June 1961 |
Homeport | Plymouth |
Identification | Pennant number: F115 |
Fate | Sunk as target, August 1986 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Rothesay-class frigate |
Displacement | 2,490 tonnes |
Length | 112.8 m (370 ft) |
Beam | 12.5 m (41 ft) |
Crew | 250 |
Armament | 2 × 4.5" ( 114mm ) guns, seacat missile & triple barrelled a/s mortars |
Aircraft carried | Wasp helicopter |
HMS Berwick was a Rothesay- or Type 12I-class anti-submarine frigate of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Harland & Wolff and launched on 15 December 1959.
The Rothesay class was an improved version of the Whitby-class anti-submarine frigate, with nine Rothesays ordered in the 1954–55 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy to supplement the six Whitbys. [1]
Berwick was 370 feet 0 inches (112.78 m) long overall and 360 feet 0 inches (109.73 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 41 feet 0 inches (12.50 m) and a draught of 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m). [2] The Rothesays were powered by the same Y-100 machinery used by the Whitby-class. Two Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers fed steam at 550 pounds per square inch (3,800 kPa) and 850 °F (454 °C) to two sets of geared steam turbines which drove two propeller shafts, fitted with large (2 feet (0.61 m) diameter) slow-turning propellers. The machinery was rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), giving a speed of 29.5 knots (33.9 mph; 54.6 km/h). [3] [4] Crew was about 212 officers and men. [2] [lower-alpha 1]
A twin 4.5-inch (113 mm) Mark 6 gun mount was fitted forward, with 350 rounds of ammunition carried. It was originally intended to fit a twin 40 mm L/70 Bofors anti-aircraft mount aft, but in 1957 it was decided to fit the Seacat anti-aircraft missile instead. Seacat was not yet ready, and Berwick was completed with a single L/60 40 mm Bofors mount aft as a temporary anti-aircraft armament. [6] The design anti-submarine armament consisted of twelve 21-inch torpedo-tubes (eight fixed and two twin rotating mounts) for Mark 20E Bidder homing anti-submarine torpedoes, backed up by two Limbo anti-submarine mortars fitted aft. The Bidder homing torpedoes proved unsuccessful however, being too slow to catch modern submarines, and the torpedo tubes were soon removed. [7]
The ship was fitted with a Type 293Q surface/air search radar on the foremast, with a Type 277 height-finding radar on a short mast forward of the foremast. A Mark 6M fire control system (including a Type 275 radar) for the 4.5 inch guns was mounted above the ship's bridge, while a Type 974 navigation radar was also fitted. [8] [9] The ship's sonar fit consisted of Type 174 search, Type 170 fire control sonar for Limbo and a Type 162 sonar for classifying targets on the sea floor. [9]
Berwick was laid down at Harland & Wolff's Belfast shipyard on 16 June 1958, was launched on 15 December 1959 and completed on 1 June 1961. [10] [11]
From 1961 to 1963 Berwick was leader of the 5th Frigate Squadron.
Between 1963 and 1965 Berwick was leader of the 21st Escort Squadron. [12] During the Beira Patrol, she stopped and arrested SS Manuella for attempting to run the oil blockade of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on Easter 1966. Berwick was re-fitted with helicopter landing facilities in 1967.
During the first week in November 1971, Berwick collided with the frigate Phoebe in Portsmouth Harbour, whilst leaving for the West Indies. Both ships were ordered to dock for damage assessment, and underwent repairs for minor damage. [13]
From July 1975 to April 1976, she went around the world via the Suez and Panama canals. Other ships in the flotilla included Ajax, Plymouth, Llandaff, Rothesay and Glamorgan. Destinations included Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt (Port Said), India (Madras), Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia (Fremantle, Hobart and Sydney), New Zealand (Nelson and Timaru), [14] Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, California (San Diego and Long Beach), Panama and finally Curaçao.
In January 1977, when the United Kingdom enlarged its Exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles (370 km), Berwick was deployed in patrolling the EEZ, protecting fishing stocks and oil fields. [15] In 1977, she attended the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review with sisterships Plymouth and Rothesay. At this time she was part of the 8th Frigate Squadron. [16] Industrial action led to plans to fit Berwick with a towed array sonar to be cancelled, [17] and in December 1980 she was paid off into reserve with the standby squadron. [18] By early 1982, Berwick was being considered for disposal as a result of the 1981 Defence White Paper, which proposed cuts in the Royal Navy's surface fleet. [19]
The Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in April 1982 changed these plans, as frigates were brought back from standby to active service to take the place of ships that had been sent down to the South Atlantic. [20] Berwick, which was in poor material condition, suffering from serious corrosion and not having undergone any maintenance for many months, was at first used as a source of spare parts to enable sister ship Falmouth to return to service. In June that year, work began at Chatham Dockyard to refit Berwick, allowing her to be recommissioned on 5 August 1982, joining the 5th Frigate Squadron. [21] Berwick conducted two successful post war tours with the South Atlantic task forces, in 1982–83. Her final years saw her active on West Indian training cruises, and she was paid off in 1985.
Berwick was sunk as a target ship on 18 August 1986 by a Tigerfish torpedo, [22] which was fired from the submarine Tireless.
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 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 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 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 Mohawk was a Tribal-class frigate of the Royal Navy in service from 1963. She was named after a tribe of Native Americans located in southeast Canada and New York State. Mohawk was scrapped in 1983.
HMS Yarmouth was the first modified Type 12 frigate of the Rothesay class to enter service with the Royal Navy.
HMS Torquay was a Type 12 Whitby-class frigate of the British Royal Navy. They were the first frigates to have the "V" form hull. This evolutionary design made it possible to be driven in head sea without the usual slamming which occurs with conventional destroyers of the time. Each frigate cost 3.5 million pounds and the first ship completed was Torquay in May 1956.
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 Otago (F111) was a Rothesay-class frigate acquired from the United Kingdom by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) before completion.
HMS Rothesay was the lead ship of the Rothesay or Type 12M class of anti-submarine frigates of the British Royal Navy. She was commissioned in 1960 and scrapped in 1988.
HMS Londonderry was a Rothesay- or Type 12-class anti-submarine frigate of the British Royal Navy in service from 1960 to 1984.
HMS Brighton was a Rothesay or Type 12I class anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy.
HMS Falmouth was a Rothesay-class, or "Improved Type 12", anti-submarine frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1950s. She took part in the Third Cod War in 1976, ramming the Icelandic gunboat V/s Týr. Both ships suffered extensive damage.
HMS Rhyl was a Rothesay-class or Type 12M anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy, launched by Lady Macmillan on 23 February 1959 and commissioned in October 1960. Following Royal Navy service she was scuttled whilst being prepared as a target in 1985.
HMS Lowestoft was a Rothesay-class or Type 12M class anti-submarine frigate of the British Royal Navy. Lowestoft was reconstructed in the late 1960s to largely the same pattern as the third group of Leander-class frigates, with new radar and fire control and a hangar and pad for a Westland Wasp helicopter for longer range, anti-submarine, engagement. In the late 1970s it was converted as the prototype towed array frigate for the Royal Navy, but retained its full armament. Lowestoft was sunk as a target on 8 June 1986 by HMS Conqueror using a Tigerfish torpedo. She was the last Royal Naval target to be sunk still displaying her pennant number.
HMS Eastbourne was a Whitby-class, or Type 12, anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
HMS Tenby was a Whitby-class or Type 12 anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
HMS Whitby was a Whitby-class or Type 12 anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom built by Cammell Laird and Co Ltd, Birkenhead. She was launched on 2 July 1954 and commissioned on 10 July 1956.
HMS Undaunted was a U-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F53.