HMS Chatham (F87)
HMS Chatham in harbour, 2010
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Chatham |
Builder | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
Laid down | 12 May 1986 |
Launched | 20 January 1988 |
Sponsored by | Lady Oswald |
Commissioned | 4 May 1990 |
Decommissioned | 8 February 2011 |
Homeport | HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |
Identification |
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Motto |
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Fate | Scrapped October 2013 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type 22 frigate |
Displacement | 5,300 tons |
Length | 148.1 m (485 ft 11 in) |
Beam | 14.8 m (48 ft 7 in) |
Draught | 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max) |
Complement | 250 (max. 301) |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried |
HMS Chatham was a Batch 3 Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. She was decommissioned on 8 February 2011.
Chatham had the rare honour of a motto in English; Up and at 'em, being the rallying cry of the Medway town football and rugby teams.[3] The motto has subsequently been translated back into Latin as Surge et vince.
Operational history
1990–1999
Chatham joined Operation Sharp Guard to enforce the embargo against the former Yugoslavia in 1993. Her most notable action was on 1 May 1994 and the capture of the Maltese freighter Lido II, which was suspected of smuggling fuel to Montenegro. The British frigate assisted the Dutch frigate HNLMS Van Kinsbergen, who had forced the merchant to stop.
Three Yugoslav
Under the command of
2000–2009
In May 2000, Chatham was part of the Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) sent to the coast of
In March 2003 Chatham became the first British warship to
Chatham deployed from the UK to the Persian Gulf in January and returned in August. During the deployment, in the run-up to and the conduct of the invasion of Iraq, the ship spent around 90 days at sea continuously at defence watches in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. At times she came very close to hitting mines laid by Iraqi dhows and tugs in the shallow waters to be found in the area.
Chatham hosted the
On 18 April 2005, Chatham sent a party ashore at Alexandria in Egypt to provide a burial for the recently uncovered remains of thirty British sailors and officers who had died during or after the 1798 Battle of the Nile.[7]
On 31 October 2006, she visited the town of
In 2008 Chatham was responsible for the capture of six tonnes of the 23-tonne narcotic haul seized by the
2010–2011
On 17 May 2010, Chatham destroyed two pirate boats in the Somali Basin, forcing the pirates to return in the mother ship to Somalia.[8]
On 20 May 2010
Decommissioning and disposal
As a result of defence cuts, HMS Chatham arrived in Plymouth for the last time on 27 January 2011. The ship was decommissioned in February 2011.[10] She was stripped of equipment and laid up at Portsmouth and in July 2013 sold to Turkish company Leyal for demolition.
In autumn 2013, Chatham was towed to the Leyal shipyard in Turkey on her final voyage for breaking.[11]
Affiliations
Chatham was affiliated to a number of military and civil bodies:[12]
Ship's Sponsor: Lady Oswald
- 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps
- Medway Council
- Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
- Chatham Dockyard Historic Trust
- Chatham Dockyard Historic Society
- Royal Naval Association, Chatham
- TS Cornwallis (Medway Town Sea Cadet Unit)
- 5th Medway Scouts
- 1404 Chatham Squadron (Air Training Corps)
Notable commanding officers
Almost all the commanders of Chatham subsequently achieved
References
- ^ "Royal Navy Bridge Card, February 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Royal Navy Major Surface Vessel". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- ^ "NATO and WEU ships encounter Yugoslav Navy while preventing violation of UN embargo". Press Release by NATO/WEU force conducting the Operation Sharp Guard in the Adriatic Sea, 1 May 1994. Release 94/13
- ISBN 90-04-17479-6
- ^ "BBC Website – Shipmates". Retrieved 25 October 2006.
- ^ Smith, Tannalee. "30 Members of British Fleet Reburied". Associated Press, 18 April 2005.
- ^ a b "Nato warship destroys pirate boats in Somali Basin". BBC. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ^ "Devon-based ship saves crew caught in tropical cyclone". BBC News. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ "Crew Says Farewell To HMS Chatham". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Royal Navy frigates sold off for scrap for £3m". BBC News. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ "HMS Chatham affiliations – Royal Navy Website". Retrieved 20 June 2009.