| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Cordella |
| Builder | Clelands Shipbuilding Company, Wallsend |
| Acquired | by STUFT, April 1982 |
| Commissioned | April 1982 |
| Decommissioned | August 1982 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Mine countermeasures vessel |
| Tonnage | 1,238 tons |
| Service record | |
| Commanders: | Lt Cdr M.C.G. Holloway [1] |
| Operations: | Falklands War |
HMS Cordella was a Royal Navy auxiliary mine countermeasures vessel that served during the Falklands War as part of 11th MCM Squadron.
F/V Cordella was a 1,238 ton fishing trawler built in 1973 by Clelands Shipbuilding Company at Wallsend, England.
Cordella was one of five Hull-based trawlers that were taken up from trade by the Royal Navy in 1982 for service as naval trawlers (auxiliary MCM vessels) during the Falklands War. The trawlers were fitted with Oropesa towed minesweeping equipment and Extra Deep Armed Team Sweep (EDATS) equipment at HMNB Rosyth and crewed by Royal Navy personnel prior to operational deployment. [2] [3]
During night of 10 June 1982, Cordella supported her sister ship HMS Pict while the latter influence swept Berkeley Sound. No mines were found thus reducing the risk to ships engaging in naval bombardment of Argentine positions. [2]
During nights of 12, 13, and 14 June, she conducted covert operations resupplying SAS and SBS patrols deployed variously along the coast. [3] Following the Argentine surrender Cordella and the other four ships of the 11 MCM cleared the minefields off Port Stanley.
After the war she returned to the United Kingdom and returned to her peacetime role as a fishing vessel.
She returned to the Falkland Islands in the early 1990s and was used as a Fishery Protection vessel under charter to the Falkland Islands Government, occasionally making trips to patrol South Georgia waters too.
In 2000 Cordella was sold to a Latvian owner as F/V Olga. Renamed as F/V Gideon, she was lost off Newfoundland in 2005. [4]
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
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HMS Argonaut (F56) was a Leander-class frigate that served with the Royal Navy from 1967 to 1993. She took part in the Falklands War in 1982, sustaining damage and casualties in action.
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The River class is a class of offshore patrol vessels built primarily for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. A total of nine were built for the Royal Navy (RN), four Batch 1 and five Batch 2. One Batch 1 (HMS Clyde), which was the Falklands guard ship, was decommissioned and transferred at the end of its lease to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force.
Standing Royal Navy deployments is a list of operations and commitments undertaken by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy on a worldwide basis. The following list details these commitments and deployments sorted by region and in alphabetical order. Routine deployments made by the Navy's nuclear-powered submarines and their location of operations is classified.
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An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels suited to piracy and to employment by navies and coast guards against smugglers and pirates. Vessels of this type were adapted to racing by wealthy owners. The origin of civilian yachts as naval vessels, with their speed and maneuverability, made them useful for adaptation to their original function as patrol vessels. In the United States Navy armed yachts were typically private yachts expropriated for government use in times of war. Armed yachts served as patrol vessels during the Spanish–American War and the World Wars. In the latter conflicts, armed yachts were used as patrol vessels, convoy escorts, and in anti-submarine duties. In the United States, yachts were purchased from their owners with the owners given an option to repurchase their yacht at the close of hostilities.
The 11th Mine Countermeasures Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy during the Falklands War of 1982.
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ARA Narwal was an Argentinian fishing trawler, equipped for ELINT purposes during the Falklands War and captained by Asterio Wagata.
Junella was a fishing trawler, best known for her service with the Royal Navy during the Falklands War. She was built in 1975 for J Marr & Son, a Hull-based fishing company. On 11 April 1982 she was taken up from trade by the British government and commissioned into the Royal Navy. She was fitted with Second World War era minesweeping gear at Rosyth Dockyard, manned by Royal Navy sailors and allocated to the 11th Mine Countermeasures Squadron. She sailed on 26 April but was unable to commence sweeping until after the 14 June Argentine surrender. In the meantime she was utilised to transfer troops and stores between ships and landed special forces troops at San Carlos. Demining operations commenced on 21 June. Junella returned to the United Kingdom on 11 August, carrying a defused Argentine mine.
