HMS St Albans (F83)
Mod 1 main gun
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | St Albans |
Ordered | February 1996 |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Laid down | 18 April 1999 |
Launched | 6 May 2000 |
Commissioned | 6 June 2002 |
Refit |
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Homeport | Devonport |
Identification | |
Nickname(s) | "The Saint"[1] |
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)[2] |
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 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
Range | 7,500 nautical miles (14,000 km; 9,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 185 (accommodation for up to 218) |
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 St Albans is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the sixth ship to bear the name and is the sixteenth and final ship in the 'Duke' class of frigates. She is based in Devonport, Plymouth.
Operational history
2000–2010
The ship was launched on the River Clyde on Saturday 6 May 2000.[11] She was built at BAE Systems' Yarrows Yard in Scotstoun, Glasgow.
On 27 October 2002, before entering operational service, St Albans was struck by the
On 13 February 2006, St Albans departed on a six-month deployment to the
Following the ship's successful six-month tour, St Albans underwent maintenance. During this time, the ship received a new commanding officer, Commander Mark Newland RN. The ship stayed in British waters, participated in submarine training in the Irish Sea, weapon training off the south coast and visited Glasgow on 11 November 2006 to take part in Remembrance Sunday events.
From 5 January until 15 January 2007 the ship was open to the public as part of the London Boat Show. Following this, the ship conducted various training exercises and engineering trials in the UK. The ship's crew then went on Easter leave before returning to conduct more training activities. In May 2007, St Albans entered a period of maintenance that lasted over a year, with her crew temporarily reassigned to other vessels for the duration of the work. The maintenance programme took place in dry dock, situated in Rosyth, with a skeleton crew of engineers supervising the overhaul of several of the ship's systems. Their work included the installation of a new Type 2087 sonar system and converting the ship so that she could operate Merlin helicopters.[17] The upgrade took 15 months and cost £15 million. The ship then returned to her home port of Portsmouth and was accepted back into the fleet in July 2008. The ship was then put through various equipment tests and training routines throughout the later part of the year.
St Albans left Portsmouth on 19 January 2009 to conduct maritime security patrols in the Mediterranean. The ship joined a
St Albans was deployed in the
2011–present
The Worshipful Company of Marketors became affiliated to HMS St Albans in 2011. The warship helped in the recovery of a diver who had got into difficulties near Salcombe on 26 March 2011, although the diver was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.[20] On 1 July 2011, St Albans rescued 13 sailors off the coast of Oman from the stricken tanker MV Pavit, which had spent three days drifting in a heavy storm after losing power. St Albans used her Merlin helicopter embarked from 829 Naval Air Squadron to winch the crew to safety. The rescued sailors were later transferred to their sister ship, the MV Jag Pushpa. After operating in the Middle East conducting counter-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, having relieved the frigate HMS Iron Duke,[21][22] She returned to Portsmouth, via Malta and Lisbon, in December 2011.[23]
In March 2012, HMS St Albans visited the
HMS St Albans continued her home duties visiting the Channel Islands and Holyhead with an extended tour visiting Stavanger, Oslo and Amsterdam. During this deployment she was the last ship to fire the Royal Navy's 4.5" Mk.8 Mod 0 gun off Stavanger.[25] In May 2013 she was handed over to BAe Systems for a refit in Portsmouth Harbour, her home port, silently coached into C lock. She remained in dock until spring 2014 to be modernised for another 10 years. On 10 December 2013, Commander Catherine Jordan RN took command of the ship.[26][27][28]
The refit was a mid-life upgrade, modernizing the ship for the following ten years – it cost £25million and was completed on time in spring 2014.
On 3 November 2014 the ship passed her Material Assessment and Safety Check and her Rededication Ceremony was on 1 August 2014[citation needed], after which she rejoined the fleet.[26] In December 2014 HMS St Albans visited London, mooring alongside HMS Belfast in the Pool of London, and then sailed across the North Sea and down the Nieuwe Maas to visit Rotterdam.
Still based in Portsmouth, she continued trials in the Western English Channel and then visited
Whilst crossing the Mediterranean she was involved with the seizure of 320 kg of cocaine with a street value of more than £1 million. On 11 January 2016, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that "HMS St Albans will shortly join the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier group" as part of operations against the Islamic State group.[30] She arrived back in Portsmouth on 5 August 2016.
In January 2017 she escorted the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov along the English Channel on the latter's return voyage from Syria to Kola Bay.[31]
During February 2017 she conducted the Submarine Command Course off the Norwegian Coast and was then awarded the Fleet Effectiveness Flag. She then went into dry dock 'C' in Portsmouth for most of July 2017. Whilst in dry dock, the band of the Royal Yeomanry played under the keel. She returned to service on 29 August 2017 and was operational north of Scotland where she was "man marking" the Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. From 23 to 25 December, she escorted the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov which was conducting sea trials in the North Sea close to UK waters.[32]
It was reported in November 2018 that she took part in anti-submarine warfare exercises with Astute.[33]
St Albans entered refit in Devonport in July 2019, led by
Affiliations
HMS St Albans is principally affiliated to the current Duke of St Albans. The ship is also affiliated to:[36]
- City of St Albans
- 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment
- Royal Naval Reserve
- RAF Marham
- Haileybury CCF
- Ryde SchoolCCF
- 1st Luton Sea Scouts
- Worshipful Company of Haberdashers[37]
- Worshipful Company of Marketors[38]
- Hertfordshire Sea Cadets
References
- ^ "HMS St Albans to Leave Portsmouth for Mission Next Week". The News. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012.
- ^ "Type 23 Frigate". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Royal Navy's Sea Venom light anti-ship missile full operating capability delayed until 2026". Navy Lookout. 21 June 2023.
- ^ Peruzzi, Luca. "Royal Navy unveiled Sea Ceptor and launched first user group at DSEI 2017". European Defence Review. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "In focus: the 50 cal heavy machine gun in Royal Navy service". Navy Lookout. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ "Frigate launch prompts industry fears". BBC News. 6 May 2000. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Navy frigate damaged in ferry collision". BBC News. 27 October 2002. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "HMS St Albans: Gulf Deployment". Royal Navy. 15 February 2006. Archived from the original on 20 June 2006.
- ^ "HMS St Albans in the Lebanon". Royal Navy. 24 July 2006. Archived from the original on 28 July 2006.
- ^ "Over 3,500 evacuated from Lebanon by British Forces". Ministry of Defence. 21 July 2006. Archived from the original on 2 August 2006.
- ^ "Lebanon Evacuation Warship Returns to Portsmouth". Royal Navy. 18 August 2006. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006.
- ^ "Multi-Million Pound Upgrade for Royal Navy's HMS St Albans". Royal Navy. 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007.
- ^ a b "HMS St Albans departs for Gulf". Ministry of Defence. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
- ^ "HMS St Albans to visit Malta". The Malta Independent. 17 July 2010. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ "Diver dies after warship rescue". BBC News. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "St Albans saves the lives of 13 sailors in dramatic rescue". Navy News. [dead link]
- ^ Ministry of Defence (9 June 2011). "HMS St Albans deploys to Indian Ocean and the Gulf". Gov.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "HMS St Albans and HMS Edinburgh return to Portsmouth". BBC News. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "HMS St Albans Visits Kiel, Germany". Naval Today. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "St Albans makes history as Navy's main gun bows out after 40 years service". Royal Navy. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ a b c "HMS St Albans". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Commander Catherine Jordan Royal Navy" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Captain Catherine Jordan Royal Navy" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "Royal Navy frigate deployed to Gulf to protect shipping". Arabian Industry.com. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "RAF uses Brimstone missiles against IS". BBC News. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "UK warship escorts Russian carrier in English Channel". BBC News. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Navy tracks Russia warship in North Sea". BBC News. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ Dunlop, Tom (30 November 2018). "Frigate HMS St Albans hunts submarine HMS Astute off Scottish coast". UK Defence Journal. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Return of the Saint as Royal Navy frigate nears end of four year revamp". 14 November 2023.
- ^ @Royal Navy (1 March 2024). Navy/status/1763541306444259775 "@RoyalNavy A stalwart returns... Today, @HMSStAlbans sailed for the first time in four and a half years following a massive overhaul" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 March 2024 – via Twitter.
{{cite web}}
: Check|url=
value (help) - ^ West (2017), p. 164.
- ^ "Our Affiliations". Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "Armed Forces and Cadets Committee". Worshipful Company of Marketors. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
Bibliography
- West, Hugh (2017). A Guide to HMS St Albans (PDF). Worshipful Company of Marketors. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017.
External links
- "HMS St Albans". Royal Navy.