HMS Apollo (F70)
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History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Apollo |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Laid down | 1 May 1969 |
Launched | 15 October 1970 |
Commissioned | 28 May 1972 |
Decommissioned | 31 August 1988 |
Identification | Pennant number: F70 |
Fate | Sold to Pakistan, 1988 |
Pakistan | |
Name | PNS Zulfiqar |
Commissioned | 1988 |
Decommissioned | 29 October 2006 |
Identification | Pennant number: F262 |
Fate | Sunk as target, 12 March 2010 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Leander-class frigate |
Displacement | 3,200 long tons (3,251 t) full load |
Length | 113.4 m (372 ft) |
Beam | 12.5 m (41 ft) |
Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft) |
Propulsion | 2 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers supplying steam to two sets of White-English Electric double-reduction geared turbines to two shafts |
Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h) |
Range | 4,600 nautical miles (8,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
Complement | 223 |
Armament |
|
Aircraft carried | 1 × Westland Wasp helicopter |
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.
Both Apollo and Ariadne are easily distinguished from the other Leanders by their 'witches hat' – fitted to the top of the foremast as a part of the electronic warfare array.
Construction
Apollo was one of two Leander-class frigates ordered on 29 July 1968 for the Royal Navy under the 1967–68 construction programme, the other being
Apollo was a Batch 3, "Broad-Beamed" Leander, and as such was 372 feet (113.4 m) long
A twin
Apollo was fitted with a large Type 965 long range air search radar on the ship's mainmast, with a Type 993 short range air/surface target indicating radar and Type 978 navigation radar carried on the ship's foremast. An MRS3 fire control system was carried to direct the 4.5-inch guns.[10] The ship had a sonar suite of Type 184 medium range search sonar, Type 162 bottom search and Type 170 attack sonar.[11][12]
Apollo saw her first action during the
In January 1977 the UK extended its territorial waters from 12 miles to 200 miles to create an exclusive economic zone for fishery rights. Apollo took turns with other frigates to police the North Sea pending the introduction into service of the Island-class fishery protection vessels.
In 1977, Apollo took part in the last
Apollo was intended to be modernised, (probably involving removal of her one 4.5-inch twin gun, which would have been replaced by the Exocet anti-ship missile and Sea Wolf anti-aircraft missiles, but possibly also involving fitting of a towed array sonar), but the modernisation was cancelled due to the 1981 Defence Review by the minister, John Nott.[16][17] In June 1982, Apollo was sent to patrol the South Atlantic in the aftermath of the Falklands War, encountering heavy seas that damaged her hull. She returned home in October.[13][18] In late 1983 Apollo once again returned to the South Atlantic.[13]
Apollo was refitted at Devonport between 30 July 1984 and 17 May 1985 at a cost of £11,000,000, recommissioning on 28 June that year. The ship's armament was unchanged, but Type 1006 navigation radar was fitted and the ship's davits and motor boat replaced by a light pole-derrick to handle lighter inflatable boats.[19]
Sale to Pakistan
In 1988, Apollo's Royal Navy career came to an end when she was
Fate
On 12 March 2010, Zulfiqar was sunk as a target in the Arabian Sea. Torpedoes and missiles were fired from an F-22P frigate, P3C aircraft and an Agosta 90B submarine.[22][23]
References
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, p. 37
- ^ a b Blackman 1971, p. 350
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 338
- ^ Marriott 1983, p. 94
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, p. 112
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, p. 109
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, p. 111
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, pp. 33–34, 36, 111
- ^ Marriott 1983, p. 79
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, pp. 33, 35, 44
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, pp. 33–34, 42.
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 253
- ^ a b c Critchley 1986, p. 132
- ^ Jóhannesson, Guðni Th. (2006). Þorskastríðin þrjú. p. 100.
- ^ Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, p. 48
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 300–302
- ^ Burden et al. 1986, p. 436
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, pp. 50–51
- ^ Prézelin & Baker 1990, p. 416
- ^ Osborne & Sowdon 1990, p. 51
- ^ "China's sale of the first ship of the Pakistani Army F-22P warships". Sina. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ "HMS Apollo sunk". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
Publications
- Blackman, Raymond V. B., ed. (1971). Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low Marston & Co., Ltd. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
- Burden, Rodney A.; Draper, Michael I.; Rough, Douglas A.; Smith, Colin R.; Wilton, David (1986). Falklands: The Air War. British Aviation Research Group. ISBN 0-906339-05-7.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Critchley, Mike (1986). British Warships Since 1945: Part 5 Frigates. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 0-907771-13-0.
- Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Marriott, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.
- Osborne, Richard; Sowdon, David (1990). Leander Class Frigates. Kendal, UK: World Ships Society. ISBN 0-905617-56-8.
- Prézelin, Bernard; Baker, A. D., eds. (1990). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/1991. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-250-8.