HMS Coventry | |
History | |
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Name: | HMS Coventry |
Operator: | Royal Navy |
Builder: | Swan Hunter |
Laid down: | 29 March 1984 |
Launched: | 8 April 1986 |
Commissioned: | 14 October 1988 |
Decommissioned: | 17 January 2002 |
Identification: | Pennant number: F98 |
Fate: | Sold to Romania on 14 January 2003 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Type 22 frigate |
Displacement: | 4,800 tons |
Length: | 146.5 m (481 ft) |
Beam: | 14.8 m (49 ft) |
Draught: | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: |
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Range: | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) |
Complement: | 273 |
Armament: |
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Aircraft carried: | 2 × Lynx MK 8 helicopters |
Name: | Regele Ferdinand |
Namesake: | King Ferdinand of Romania |
Laid down: | 29 March 1984 |
Launched: | 8 April 1986 |
Acquired: | 14 January 2003 |
Commissioned: | 9 September 2004 |
Identification: | F221 |
Status: | In active service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Type 22 frigate |
Displacement: | 5,300 tons |
Length: | 148.1 m (486 ft) |
Beam: | 14.8 m (49 ft) |
Draught: | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
Propulsion: | 4 x Rolls Royce gas turbine engines |
Speed: |
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Range: | 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) |
Complement: | 250 |
Armament: | 76/62 Oto Melara Super-Rapid gun |
Aircraft carried: | IAR-330 Puma Naval |
HMS Coventry was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be named Boadicea but was named Coventry in honour of the previous Coventry, a Type 42 destroyer sunk in the Falklands War. Following service in the Royal Navy she was sold to the Romanian Navy in 2003.
The Type 22 Broadsword class was a class of frigate built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen of the class were built in total, with production divided into three batches. HMS Cornwall was the last Royal Navy Type 22 frigate, retired from service on 30 June 2011.
A frigate is a type of warship, having various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.
Between 1990 and 1996 Coventry was the leader of the 1st Frigate Squadron.
The 1st Frigate Squadron was an naval unit of the Royal Navy from 1972 to 2001.
She was purchased from the United Kingdom by the Romanian Navy on 14 January 2003, and renamed Regele Ferdinand (King Ferdinand) after Ferdinand I of Romania. The ship was handed over to Romania on 19 August 2004, and underwent sea trials at the same time. Regele Ferdinand was commissioned into the Romanian Navy on 9 September 2004 with the pennant number F221, and is the current flagship of the Romanian Navy. There has since been some controversy over the price at which she was bought. [1]
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the northwestern coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi) were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
Ferdinand I, nicknamed Întregitorul, was King of Romania from 1914 until 1927. Although a member of the Swabian branch of Germany's ruling House of Hohenzollern, Ferdinand sided against the Central Powers in World War I. Thus, at the war’s end, Romania emerged as a much-enlarged kingdom, including Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania, and Ferdinand was crowned king of "Greater Romania" in a grand ceremony in 1922. He died from cancer in 1927, succeeded by his grandson Michael under a regency.
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It has borders with the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometers, Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați.
On 22 March 2011, President of Romania Traian Băsescu said, after a CSAT meeting, that Romania will send the frigate Regele Ferdinand with 205 mariners and two officers on board to enforce an arms embargo in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the 2011 military intervention in Libya - Operation Unified Protector. [2] During their run in the NATO naval group acting on Operation Unified Protector - 2011, the frigate has traveled over 17,400 nautical miles (32,200 km) and carried out around 770 specific tasks. [3]
Traian Băsescu is a Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014.
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa and on the east by the Levant. Although the sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually referred to as a separate body of water. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.
On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, ostensibly to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. The United Nations' intent and voting was to have "an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute crimes against humanity ... imposing a ban on all flights in the country's airspace – a no-fly zone – and tightened sanctions on the [Muammar] Gaddafi regime and its supporters." The resolution was taken in response to events during the Libyan Civil War, and military operations began, with American and British naval forces firing over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the French Air Force, British Royal Air Force, and Royal Canadian Air Force undertaking sorties across Libya and a naval blockade by Coalition forces. French jets launched air strikes against Libyan Army tanks and vehicles. Despite the use of foreign airstrikes, the intervention did not consist of foreign ground troops. The Libyan government response to the campaign was totally ineffectual, with Gaddafi's forces not managing to shoot down a single NATO plane despite the country possessing 30 heavy SAM batteries, 17 medium SAM batteries, 55 light SAM batteries, and 440–600 short-ranged air-defense guns. The official names for the interventions by the coalition members are Opération Harmattan by France; Operation Ellamy by the United Kingdom; Operation Mobile for the Canadian participation and Operation Odyssey Dawn for the United States. Italy initially opposed the intervention but then offered to take part in the operations on the condition that NATO took the leadership of the mission instead of individual countries. As this condition was later met, Italy shared its bases and intelligence with the allies.
Since entry into service of the Romanian Navy, Regele Ferdinand has performed a series of tasks among which the most important are deployments to Operation Active Endeavour in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 in the Mediterranean Sea, the exercise in Bulgaria "Breeze -CertExam" 2007, 2008, the exercise "Noble Midas" in Croatia in 2007 and 2008 in Italy. [3]
Operation Active Endeavour was a maritime operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea and was designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. It had collateral benefits in enhanced security of shipping in general. It was one of the first military actions taken by NATO in response to an invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty which provides for collective defense and the first ever operation conducted by the Alliance in direct application of the defence clause of the Treaty. In November 2016 it was replaced by the non-Article-5 Operation Sea Guardian.
Since 13 September 2012 Regele Ferdinand has participated in Operation Atalanta. The ship embarked naval commandos of Grupul Naval de Forțe pentru Operații Speciale (GNFOS). [4]
Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval ForceSomalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the European Union (EU). The operational headquarters is currently located at the Spanish Operation Headquarters (ESOHQ) at Naval Station Rota in Spain as a result of the impending British withdrawal from the EU.
In August 2014, Regele Ferdinand sailed alongside Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 Task Unit 2 which operated in the Black Sea as part of Exercise Sea Breeze. [5]
In July 2019, the Romanian authorities announced the selection of Naval Group and its partner Santierul Naval Constanta (SNC) for the programme to build four new Gowind multi-mission corvettes and to modernise the T22 frigates.
Royal Navy captains [6] | ||
---|---|---|
From | To | Captain |
1988 | 1990 | Captain Edward Hackett RN |
1990 | 1991 | Captain Roger C. Lane-Nott RN |
1991 | 1993 | Captain Stephen E. Saunders RN |
1993 | 1994 | Captain Christopher D. Stanford |
1994 | 1996 | Captain Thomas Morton RN |
1999 | 2001 | Captain Philip Jones RN |
HMS Liverpool was a Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead and launched on 25 September 1980 by Lady Strathcona, wife of Euan Howard, the then Minister of State for Defence. Liverpool was the last Type 42 Batch 2 in service.
HMS London was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy, originally named Bloodhound but renamed London at the request of the Lord Mayor of London.
HMCS Toronto is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1993. Toronto is the fourth ship in her class which is the name for the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the second vessel to carry the designation HMCS Toronto. When not on operations she is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is based at CFB Halifax. Toronto serves on MARLANT missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.
HMCS Athabaskan was an Iroquois-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1972 until 2017. Athabaskan was the third ship of her class which is sometimes referred to as the Tribal class or simply as the 280 class. She is the third vessel to use the designation HMCS Athabaskan.
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.
HMCS Halifax is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Forces since 1992. Halifax is the lead ship in her class which is the name for the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the second vessel to carry the designation HMCS Halifax. She carries the hull classification symbol FFH 330.
HMCS Vancouver is a Halifax-class frigate, of the Royal Canadian Navy launched on 8 July 1989, as the second vessel of her class. She is currently based at CFB Esquimalt on the west coast of Canada. She is the third vessel to be named after Vancouver, British Columbia.
HMCS Montréal is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1993. Montréal is the seventh ship in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the second vessel to carry the designation HMCS Montreal. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax. Montréal serves on MARLANT missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. The ship has also been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations. The vessel has also participated in several NATO missions, patrolling the Atlantic Ocean as part of Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and its successor Standing NATO Response Force Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1). The vessel is designated as a Bilingual Language Unit in the Royal Canadian Navy.
HMCS Fredericton is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1994. Fredericton is the eighth ship in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the second vessel to carry the name. Fredericton serves on MARLANT missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. Fredericton has also been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations. Fredericton has also participated in several NATO missions, patrolling the Atlantic Ocean as part of Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and its successor Standing NATO Response Force Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1). The frigate is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax.
HMCS Charlottetown is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Royal Canadian Navy since 1995. Charlottetown is the tenth ship in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the third vessel to carry the designation HMCS Charlottetown. Charlottetown, assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and homeported at CFB Halifax, serves on missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone. Charlottetown has also participated in several NATO missions, patrolling the Atlantic Ocean as part of Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and its successors Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 and 2. Charlottetown has also been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean, specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations.
HMCS St. John's is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Navy since her commissioning in 1996. She is the eleventh of twelve ships in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. St. John's is named after the city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, a port city associated with Canadian naval history and heritage, and is the first ship in the Royal Canadian Navy to bear the name. St. John's serves on Canadian Armed Forces missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone. St. John's has been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic Ocean, to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations, to the north as far as Grise Fjord and to the Caribbean where she played a role in helping to stop the flow of illicit drugs to North America. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and her homeport is in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
HMCS Ville de Québec is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Navy since 1993. Ville de Québec is the third vessel in her class which is the name for the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. The frigate is the second Royal Canadian Navy ship to be named Ville de Québec and is Canada's only fully bilingual warship. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax. The vessel serves on MARLANT missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. Her commanding officer is Commander Michael Eelhart.
HMCS Algonquin was an Iroquois-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) from 1973 to 2015.
HNLMS De Ruyter is a De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was laid down in 2000, launched in 2002, and commissioned in 2004, the third ship of her class to enter service. The frigate is named after Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter (1607–1676).
RFA Wave Knight is a Wave-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) of the United Kingdom tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.
Mărășești is a frigate currently serving with the Romanian Navy, named after Mărășești, the site of a Romanian victory in World War I. She was also named after her World War II namesake, just like the other two frigates of the Romanian Navy, Regele Ferdinand and Regina Maria, which use the names of the two World War II-era Regele Ferdinand-class destroyers. Mărășești served as the flagship of the navy between 1985 and 2004, when Regele Ferdinand became the new flagship. She is the largest warship of the Romanian Navy ever built in Romania.
Operation Mobile was the name given to Canadian Forces activities in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The United States' counterpart to this was Operation Odyssey Dawn, the French counterpart was Opération Harmattan and the British counterpart was Operation Ellamy. The no-fly zone was proposed during the Libyan Civil War to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on anti-Gaddafi forces and civilians. The demonstrations in Libya were part of the larger Arab Spring movement that began in the country of Tunisia on 18 December 2010. When demonstrations began in Libya, the government of Muammar Gaddafi responded with systematic attacks by air and ground forces, and repression of the protesters. In a speech, Gaddafi promised to chase down the protesters and cleanse the country "house by house". Several countries prepared to take immediate military action at a conference in Paris on 19 March.
Operation Unified Protector was a NATO operation in 2011 enforcing United Nations Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973 concerning the Libyan Civil War and adopted on 26 February and 17 March 2011, respectively. These resolutions imposed sanctions on key members of the Gaddafi government and authorized NATO to implement an arms embargo, a no-fly zone and to use all means necessary, short of foreign occupation, to protect Libyan civilians and civilian populated areas.
Destroyer Squadron 60 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. Destroyer Squadron 60 is one of three U.S. Navy destroyer squadrons permanently based outside the continental United States.
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