HMS Devonshire (D02)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Devonshire.

HMS Devonshire during Portsmouth Navy Day, 1980
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Devonshire
Ordered24 January 1956
BuilderCammell Laird
Laid down9 March 1959
Launched10 June 1960
Commissioned15 November 1962
Decommissioned1978
IdentificationPennant number: D02
FateSunk as a target on 17 July 1984
General characteristics
Class and typeCounty-class destroyer
Displacement6,200 tons full load
Length158.6 m (520 ft 4 in)
Beam53 ft (16 m)
Draught20 ft (6.1 m)
PropulsionCOSAG (Combined steam and gas) turbines, 2 shafts
Speed31.5 knots (58.3 km/h)
Range3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km)
Complement470
Armament
  • 1×
    Seaslug GWS.2
    twin-arm SAM launcher(36 missiles)
  • 2×
    Seacat GWS.21
    twin-arm SAM launcher(60 missiles)
  • 4×
    4.5 in (114 mm) /45 DP
    (2× twin gunned turret)
  • 2× 20 mm AA
  • 2× triple-tubes for 12¾ inch (324 mm) ASW torpedo
Aircraft carried1× Lynx or Wessex helicopter
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and enclosed hangar for embarking one helicopter

HMS Devonshire was the first of the County-class destroyers and the first Batch 1 ship of the Royal Navy. The ship was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead near Liverpool. With a displacement of 6,200 tons full load, Devonshire was named after the English county of Devon. She was launched on 10 June 1960 and delivered to the navy two years later.

Operational service

A Seaslug missile roars away from HMS Devonshire's twin launcher for the first time. At this early stage of firing, the boosters can be seen still attached to the weapon, May 1962

In 1962 Devonshire was commissioned and became the first operational Royal Navy ship to fire the

Seaslug missile.[1] Following work up, she sailed for the Mediterranean, followed by a return to her home port of Portsmouth. From here she then sailed for Bermuda and the United States.[2]
She returned to Portsmouth just before the end of 1962. Captain George Cunningham Leslie OBE, served as Commanding officer from 1965 to 1966.

On 31 August 1966, Devonshire collided with the tanker British Sovereign off the mouth of the

River Elbe. No-one was injured on either ship.[3]

Captain

Fleet Review off Spithead when she was part of the First Flotilla.[4]

Decommissioning and disposal

Devonshire was decommissioned under defence cuts in 1978, though was immediately offered for sale to

Mark 24-Mod-2 Tigerfish torpedo
.

References

  1. ^ "Royal Navy, including Administration, 1961-1970".
  2. ^ Commissioning Book, HMS Devonshire 1962-1964, HMSO
  3. ^ "Collision court acquittal". Navy News. November 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  4. ^ Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO

Publications

External links

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