_underway_c1982.jpg){kind=icon} | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSArrow |
| Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down | 28 September 1972 |
| Launched | 5 February 1974 |
| Commissioned | 28 July 1976 |
| Decommissioned | 1 March 1994 |
| Identification | Pennant number: F173 |
| Motto |
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| Fate | Sold to Pakistan on 1 March 1994 |
 Pakistan | |
| Name | PNSKhaibar |
| Acquired | 1 March 1994 |
| Status | Ship in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type 21 frigate |
| Displacement | 3,250 tons full load |
| Length | 384 ft (117 m) |
| Beam | 41 ft 9 in (12.73 m) |
| Draught | 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Range | 4,000 nmi (7,408 km; 4,603 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Complement | 177 |
| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried | 1 ×Westland Wasp helicopter, later refitted for 1 ×Lynx |
HMSArrow was aType 21 frigate of theRoyal Navy.
Arrow was active during theFalklands War of 1982, where she providednaval gunfire support (NGFS) and rescued most of the surviving crew fromHMS Sheffield. She was sold to Pakistan on 1 March 1994 and renamedPNSKhaibar.
Built byYarrow Shipbuilders Ltd,Glasgow, Scotland, she was completed withExocet launchers in'B' position. During 1976-1977 her first captain wasCommanderNick J Barker.[1]
During the 1982Falklands War,Arrow was the first British ship to see action when she shelled Argentine positions around Port Stanley airfield on 1 May and the first to be hit by anArgentine Air Forceaircraft, sustaining severalcannon shell hits to her funnel uptake and other parts of the superstructure. She had one casualty from shell splinters.[2]
On 4 May she assisted in extinguishing the fires and evacuating the crew of theType 42 destroyerHMSSheffield, which had been struck by anExocet missile, rescuing 225 of the 261 surviving crew.Arrow's captain, Commander (laterCaptain) Paul Bootherstone was subsequently awarded theDistinguished Service Cross for this action.[3]
On 6 MayArrow shelled Argentine positions aroundFox Bay West Falkland.
On the night of 10–11 May,Arrow lay at the northern end ofFalkland Sound, the channel which separates West and East Falkland, whilst hersister shipHMSAlacrity transited it from south to north to assess if the channel wasmined.Alacrity left the channel just before dawn andArrow was waiting to accompany her back to the Task Force when the Argentine submarineSan Luis, captained by Fernando Azcueta, fired twoSST-4 torpedoes at a range of 5000 yards. One did not leave its tube; the other hit the towed Type 182 decoy.[citation needed]
On 28 May,Arrow provided naval gunfire support to the Second Battalion,The Parachute Regiment's assault onGoose Green.[4] She fired 22star shells and 135 rounds of 4.5" high-explosive, during a 90-minute bombardment.[5]
Arrow remained inBomb Alley (San Carlos Water anchorage) longer than any other ship while receiving temporary repairs to hull cracks by having Seadart lifting beams welded to her upper decks.
On passage east towardFitzroy on the night of 5 JuneArrow detected an unknown surface target close to the shore and fired three star shells over what turned out to be a UKLanding Craft Mechanised (LCM) which was then escorted toBerkeley Sound. These were the last Mk 8 Illumination rounds fired during the conflict. In early June 1982Arrow gave supporting fire in the battles that led up to the Argentine surrender.
She returned home toDevonport Naval Base on 7 July 1982, welcomed home by theRed Arrows display team, with whom she had an association.[6]
The silhouette ofArrow, along with the date 1 May, was painted on the side of Argentine Air Force Dagger C-412 along with the silhouette representation ofHMS Brilliant and the 21 May, implying a successful action against these vessels. These refer to damage which both ships suffered during the conflict, which may not have been caused by this particular aircraft.Arrow was slightly damaged on 1 May 1982, and HMSBrilliant was damaged by cannon fire on 21 May 1982 outsideSan Carlos Water. The aircraft was still bearing these silhouettes in November 2005 at the multi-nationalExercise Ceibo in Argentina.
By the mid-1980sArrow was suffering from cracking in her hull. Much of this had first arisen during the Falklands conflict, when engineers were obliged to weld steel plates and girders to parts of the ship where cracks were opening up in the aluminium superstructure.[7] After the war, she was taken in for refitting, with a large steel plate being welded down each side of the ship. At the same time modifications were made to reduce hull noise.
In early 1985,Arrow spent 31⁄2 months as Guardship in the West Indies.[8] The vessel continued in service until 1994, and was decommissioned and removed from the fleet on 1 March that year.
In July 1991,Arrow was returning from a deployment to the South Atlantic when it joined aUS Coast Guard patrol boat in the Caribbean, and played a major role in an operation which resulted in the seizure of 1,500lbs of smuggled cocaine.[9]
Following decommissioningArrow was transferred toPakistan and renamedPNSKhaibar.[10] TheExocet missile system was not transferred to Pakistan andKhaibar had her obsoleteSea Cat missile launcher removed. APhalanx CIWS was later fitted in place of the Sea Cat launcher.SRBOC chaff launchers and 20 mm and 30 mm guns were fitted.Khaibar remains in service with thePakistan Navy, who purchased from the United Kingdom Government all six surviving Type 21 frigates of the eight originally built (two were lost in the Falklands).[11]
 Royal Navy | |
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 Pakistan NavyTariq-class destroyersD |
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