HMS Southampton (D90)

HMS Southampton was a batch two Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was named after the city of Southampton, England, and built by Vosper Thornycroft, in Southampton. She was the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear the name.

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

HMS Southampton dressed overall.
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Southampton
Ordered17 March 1976[1]
BuilderVosper Thornycroft
Laid down21 October 1976
Launched29 January 1979
Commissioned31 October 1981
Decommissioned12 February 2009
HomeportHMNB Portsmouth
Identification
Motto
  • Pro jusititus pro Rege
  • (Latin: "For justice and the Queen")
Nickname(s)"The Mighty Ninety" (after her pennant number).
FateSold for scrap
General characteristics
Class and typeType 42 destroyer
Displacement4,820 tonnes
Length125 m (410 ft 1 in)
Beam14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)
Propulsion
  • COGOG (Combined gas or gas) turbines, 2 shafts
  • 2 Olympus gas turbines, 25,000 shp (19,000 kW) each, 2 Tyne gas turbines, 5,000 shp (3,700 kW) each
Speed30 knots (56 km/h)
Complement287
Armament
  • Sea Dart missiles
  • 4.5-inch (114 mm) Mk 8 gun
Aircraft carriedWestland Lynx HMA8

Operational service
Southampton entering Portsmouth harbour.

1981–2005

In 1982, Southampton ran over one of the Shambles Buoys off Portland during the final Thursday War intended to prepare her to deploy to the Falklands. The collision sank the buoy and resulted in a period in dry dock for repair. I served onboard from September 1983 and the incident with the Shambles bouy was October/November 1983 after repairs we left for six months deployment as Falklands guard ship. On 3 September 1988, whilst serving on the Armilla Patrol, she was involved in a collision with MV Tor Bay, a container ship in the convoy being escorted through the Straits of Hormuz. Three members of her crew were slightly injured and a 10-metre (33 ft) hole torn in Southampton's hull. The destroyer was returned to the UK aboard a semi-submersible heavy lift ship.[2][3]

2006–2011

On 3 February 2006, the ship was involved in the seizing of 3.5 tonnes (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons) of cocaine in the Caribbean.[4]

Fate

On 31 July 2008, Southampton was placed in a state of "Extended Readiness" and was decommissioned on 12 February 2009.[5] The ship was auctioned on 28 March 2011 and was later towed from Portsmouth on 14 October 2011 to Leyal Ship Recycling's scrapyard in Aliağa, Turkey.[6]

Affiliations

References
  1. "Service Men (Rehabilitation)".
  2. "Collision involving HMS Southampton". 26 April 2009. FOI request for the Board of Inquiry report
  3. Sturton, Ian (1989). "The Naval Year in Review: F (ii). Major Casualties at Sea From 1 April 1988 to 30 April 1989". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1989. London: Conway Maritime Press. p. 247. ISBN 0-85177-530-6.
  4. "UK ships seize £350m drugs cache". BBC News. 3 February 2006.
  5. "HMS Southampton bows out after 28 years". Daily Echo. 11 February 2009.
  6. "Carrier HMS Ark Royal put up for auction on MoD website". BBC News. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  7. "List of HMS Southampton Affiliations - RN Website". Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.

Media related to HMS Southampton (D90) at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.