HMS Rothesay (F107)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
Saluting HMY Britannia, the royal yacht in the 1960s, before Rothesay's 1966 Seacat/helicopter upgrade – note the 40 mm gun in stern
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Rothesay |
Builder | Yarrow, Scotstoun |
Laid down | 6 November 1956 |
Launched | 9 December 1957 |
Commissioned | 23 April 1960 |
Decommissioned | March 1988 |
Identification | Pennant number: F107 |
Fate | Scrapped in 1988 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Rothesay-class frigate |
Displacement |
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Length | 370 ft (110 m) |
Beam | 41 ft (12 m) |
Draught | 17.3 ft (5.3 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
Range | 400 tons oil fuel, 5,200 nautical miles (9,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
Complement | 152, later 225, modified to 235 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Rothesay was the lead ship of the Rothesay or Type 12M class of anti-submarine frigates of the British Royal Navy. She was commissioned in 1960 and scrapped in 1988.
Design
The Rothesay-class was an improved version of the Whitby-class anti-submarine frigate, with nine Rothesays ordered in the 1954–55 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy to supplement the six Whitbys.[1]
Rothesay was 370 feet 0 inches (112.78 m)
A twin
The ship was fitted with a
Rothesay was laid down at Yarrow's Scotstoun dockyard on 6 November 1956, was launched on 9 December 1957 by Audrey Douglas-Hamilton, wife of George Douglas-Hamilton, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and completed on 23 April 1960.[10][11]
Modernisation
From 1966 to 1968 Rothesay underwent a major modernisation, which brought the ship close in capacity to the Leander class.[12][13] A hangar and flight deck was added aft to allow a Westland Wasp helicopter to be operated, at the expense of one of the Limbo anti-submarine mortars, while a Seacat launcher and the associated GWS20 director were mounted on the hangar roof. Two 20-mm cannons were added either side of the ship's bridge. A MRS3 fire control system replaced the Mark 6M, and its integral Type 903 radar allowed the Type 277 height finder radar to be removed. A Type 993 surface/air-search radar replaced the existing Type 293Q radar, while the ship's defences were enhanced by the addition of the Corvus chaff rocket dispenser.[13][14]
History
In the spring/summer of 1961 Rothesay was in
During two visits to the
Between 1966 and 1968 Rothesay was refitted in Rosyth. Among the improvements the 40 mm gun was replaced with Seacat missile system, radar and communication equipment was updated, accommodation improved and perhaps most significantly a helicopter flight deck and hangar were added. Although this required the removal of one of the two triple barrelled anti-submarine mortars, it allowed the Rothesay class to carry the Westland Wasp helicopter, which was a huge asset for anti-submarine operations. This modernisation was a vast improvement over the Whitby class and brought the Rothesay class up to the standard of the succeeding Leander-class frigate.
On 19 March 1969, together with Minerva, they landed 315 men of The Parachute Regiment on Anguilla to restore order after the islanders objected to being placed under the government of Saint Kitts. In 1971, she was present at Portsmouth Navy Days.[18]
In April 1970 Rothesay was one of several Royal Navy vessels that were stationed for a possible tertiary splashdown recovery of Apollo 13 in a position just south of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[19][verification needed]
In 1973 Rothesay undertook
She attended the 1977
At the start of the Falklands War, Rothesay was in Rosyth under repair after she hit a sea wall in Esbjerg, Denmark. During the 1982 conflict, Rothesay was stationed in the Caribbean.
There were plans to withdraw the ship from service in 1983, but these were abandoned and instead in 1985 she underwent a
Notes
References
- ^ a b Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 519
- ^ a b Friedman 2008, pp. 321–322
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 206, 208, 322
- ^ Marriott 1983, pp. 58, 64
- ^ Blackman 1962, p. 265
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 208–209, 322
- ^ Marriott 1983, pp. 55, 58
- ^ Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, pp. 484, 519
- ^ a b Marriott 1983, p. 55
- ^ Marriott 1983, p. 64
- ^ "H.M.S. Rothesay". Navy News. January 1958. p. 9. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- ^ Critchley 1992, p. 100
- ^ a b Marriott 1983, p. 58
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 208–210
- ^ Newton, Matthew. "Bond and the Navy". Retrieved 30 March 2016.
HMS Rothesay (Thunderball) This real frigate (which is not named on-screen but can be identified by its penant number, F107) leads the attack on the Disco Volante. It was the first of the Type 12 Rothesay class ship.
- ^ "An encounter with James Bond" (PDF). LAIRG Magazine. 7: 4. 6 May 2020 – via lairginitiative.co.uk.
- ^ "Dull? Not for Rothesay". Navy News. April 1966. p. 8. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Programme, Navy Days Portsmouth, 29th–31st August 1971, p17.
- ^ Helicopter History Site http://www.helis.com/database/ops/41/
- ^ Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO
Publications
- Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1962). Jane's Fighting Ships 1962–63. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Critchley, Mike (1992). British Warships Since 1945: Part 5: Frigates. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Press. 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.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen, eds. (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, US: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- Marriott, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.