HMS Northumberland (F238)
HMS Northumberland, 2012
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Northumberland |
Operator | Royal Navy |
Ordered | December 1989 |
Builder | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
Laid down | 4 April 1991 |
Launched | 4 April 1992 |
Sponsored by | Lady Anne Kerr |
Commissioned | 29 September 1994 |
Refit | LIFEX 2016–2018 |
Homeport | HMNB Clyde |
Identification |
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Motto |
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Honours and awards |
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Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type 23 frigate |
Displacement | 4,900 t (4,800 long tons; 5,400 short tons)[1] |
Length | 133 m (436 ft 4 in) |
Beam | 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) |
Draught | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | In excess of 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
Range | 7,500 nautical miles (14,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) |
Complement | 185 (accommodation for up to 205) |
Electronic warfare & decoys |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried |
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Aviation facilities |
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HMS Northumberland is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is named after the Duke of Northumberland. She is the eighth RN ship to bear the name since the first 70-gun ship of the line in 1679, and the ninth in the class of Type 23 frigates. She is based at Devonport and is part of the Devonport Flotilla.
Service history
Construction
Northumberland is one of four Type 23 frigates built by Swan Hunter on the Tyne at Wallsend. She was launched by her sponsor Lady Kerr, wife of Admiral Sir John Kerr, the former Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, in April 1992 and was accepted into Royal Naval Service in May 1994.
1994–2000
After sea trials and going through
Deploying to the Caribbean in 1999 for counter narcotics and disaster relief duties, Northumberland seized over two tonnes of cocaine (with a street-value of £135 million), in cooperation with a United States Coast Guard law enforcement detachment.[9]
2001–2010
From July 2004 to July 2005, Northumberland underwent an extensive refit at Number 1 Dock (Inner) at
Northumberland rejoined the fleet at the
In 2008, Northumberland deployed to the Indian Ocean as the first RN warship to participate in the EU's counter piracy Operation Atalanta, conducting numerous counter-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and escorting World Food Programme humanitarian shipping between Mombasa and Mogadishu; this was partially documented in the Sky TV programme Ross Kemp in Search of Pirates.
She deployed to the Indian Ocean again in 2010 for an eight-month counter-piracy patrol as part of the international naval counter-piracy task force, TF 151 and conducted numerous operations to disrupt piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden and the eastern Somali coast.
Northumberland returned to the UK at the end of 2010 to prepare to enter refit in 2011.
2011–2020
As part of an extensive refit at the beginning of 2011, Northumberland received several significant technology upgrades. The Sea Wolf point defence missile system was upgraded with the Sea Wolf Mid-Life Update (SWMLU – pronounced "swimloo") which substantially improved the range, performance and reliability of the system. The combat system was upgraded from outfit DNA to DNA2, replacing the combat system architecture to improve redundancy and system performance, and a software upgrade which significantly improves overall functionality and sensor integration, as well as providing MMI convergence with the Type 45 destroyer's command system. The two 30mm BMARC cannons were replaced by two 30mm Automated Small Calibre Gun (ASCG) mountings. These allow remote control of the mount via operator consoles and integrated Electro Optic fire control. Additional modifications improved habitability and reliability in high ambient temperatures.
Emerging from refit in the summer of 2011, Northumberland completed her sea trials and weapon acceptance programme, conducting eight weeks of Basic Operational Sea Training (BOST) in early 2012. She deployed back to the Indian Ocean in the Autumn of 2012 for counter-piracy and counter-narcotics tasking. This included the successful capture and destruction of over £5M of cannabis resin from a smuggler in the Arabian Sea. She returned to the UK in May 2013.[12]
Northumberland participated in Exercise Joint Warrior 2013.[13]
The ship joined the COUGAR 14
Northumberland eventually returned to Devonport on 5 December 2014 after a deployment which included visits to
On 9 May 2015, Northumberland was present in
Later in June 2015, Northumberland played a key role in the Waterloo 200 celebrations by carrying the New Waterloo Dispatch letter across the English Channel from Ostend to Broadstairs as part of an elaborate re-enactment retracing the route of HMS Peruvian, the naval sloop which carried the original letter that brought the news of the victory of the Battle of Waterloo back to England in 1815.[18]
In 2016, during preparations for entering refit in Devonport, Northumberland hosted the semi-final stage of the
In late 2020, with a television crew filming on board,
In December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Northumberland returned to Devonport after a number of suspected COVID-19 cases had been discovered on board. The ship was previously tasked with patrolling UK waters over the festive period but returned to Devonport so that the crew could isolate, in accordance with health guidelines. The Royal Navy stated that the ship would still continue to meet its operational tasks over Christmas.[24]
Since 2021
In June 2021, Northumberland, along with
In 2022, Northumberland spent 191 days at sea.[26]
Affiliations
She is affiliated to numerous organisations:
- Northumberland County Council
- HMS Example and the Northumbrian Universities Royal Naval Unit[27]
- The Light Dragoons
- The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
- The 5th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
- The Sir James Knott Trust
- The Worshipful Company of Bowyers
- The Worshipful Company of Carmen of the City of London (1517)
- The Bank of England's North Eastern Regional Agency
- The Calvert Trust
- Hexham Abbey
- RAF Boulmer
- The Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Spirit of Northumberland, the
- TS Tenacity SCC
- The Morpeth Pipe Band (whose pipers regularly pipe the Ship in and out of Devonport when deploying or returning)
- TS Dreadnought (Greenwich, Deptford & Rotherhithe Sea Cadets)
- Bedford High School and Bedford School
- Solihull School CCF
In honouring these affiliations, she regularly visits Tyneside (most recently in January 2024) and occasionally, London, most recently mooring along the north side of
References
- ^ "Type 23 frigates". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Royal Navy's Sea Venom light anti-ship missile full operating capability delayed until 2026". Navy Lookout. 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Royal Navy unveiled Sea Ceptor and launched first user group at DSEI 2017".
- ^ Scott, Richard (19 December 2023). "First NSM fit on RN Type 23 frigate". Janes. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ Navy Lookout [@NavyLookout] (18 December 2023). "@NavyLookout First view of Royal Navy warship equipped with the Naval Strike Missile" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 December 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Royal Navy ships to be fitted with advanced new missile system". gov.uk. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ Scott, Richard (16 February 2022). "UK confirms cancellation of I-SSGW programme". Janes Information Services. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ "Navy Drugs Bust Seizes £135M of Cocaine in the Caribbean". Royal Navy. 17 November 1999. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Northumberland Flight". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
- ^ "HMS Northumberland lights up Newcastle". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2007.
- ^ "Drug-busting HMS Northumberland returns home from seven-month patrol". Royal Navy. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Scotland Set To Host Exercise Joint Warrior". Royal Navy. 2 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Royal Navy task group rendezvous with French allies". Royal Navy. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "HMS Northumberland welcomed home from operations". Royal Navy. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "HMS Northumberland marks 70th anniversary of Guernsey's Liberation". Royal Navy. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Navy plays big part in Royal Yacht Squadron's anniversary celebrations". Royal Navy. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "HMS Northumberland stars in Waterloo commemorations". Royal Navy. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ Travis, Ben (25 April 2016). "MasterChef 2016: what's happening in semi-finals week". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Royal Navy frigate HMS Northumberland underway after Sea Ceptor refit". Naval Today. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Warship: Life at Sea Season 3, Episode 1". Radio Times. 3 January 2022.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ James Wharton (6 January 2022). "Royal Navy frigate collided with Russian sub, it's revealed". Forces Net.
- ^ "Covid: Navy crew isolates after suspected outbreak". BBC News. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- Independent.co.uk. 10 June 2021.
- ^ Allison, George (1 June 2023). "Data reveals number of days warships spent at sea last year". UK Defence Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ "Affiliations". Royal Navy. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ "HMS Northumberland". Tynemouth Lifeboat. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2019.