_1.jpg) HMSCardiff in Portsmouth, c. 2005 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSCardiff |
| Namesake | Welsh capital city ofCardiff[1] |
| Builder | Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering |
| Laid down | 6 November 1972 |
| Launched | 22 February 1974 |
| Commissioned | 24 September 1979 |
| Decommissioned | 14 July 2005 |
| Home port | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Identification |
|
| Motto |
|
| Nickname(s) | "The Welsh Warship"[2] |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Scrapped |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type 42destroyer |
| Displacement | 4,000 t (3,900 long tons; 4,400 short tons) |
| Length | 125 m (410 ft) |
| Beam | 14.3 m (47 ft) |
| Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft) |
| Propulsion | 2 ×COGOG turbines producing 36 MW (48,000 shp), driving 2 shafts |
| Speed | 56 km/h (30 kn) |
| Range | 7,400 km (4,000 nmi) at 33 km/h (18 kn) |
| Complement | 287–301 |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | UAA1 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | Lynx HAS.3 |
HMSCardiff was a BritishType 42 destroyer and the third ship of theRoyal Navy to be named in honour of theWelsh capital city ofCardiff.
Cardiff served in theFalklands War, where she was involved in the1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident. She also shot down the lastArgentine aircraft of the conflict and accepted the surrender of a 700-strong garrison in the settlement ofPort Howard.
During the 1991Gulf War, herLynx helicopter sank twoIraqiminesweepers. She later participated in the build-up to the2003 invasion of Iraq as part of the Royal Navy's constantArmilla patrol, but was not involved in the actual invasion.
Cardiff wasdecommissioned in July 2005, and sent forscrapping despite calls by former servicemen for her to be preserved as amuseum ship and local tourist attraction in Cardiff.
TheType 42 destroyers, also known as theSheffield class, were built in three batches;Cardiff was built in the first. The cost of the warships construction was over£30 million, which was double her original quoted price.[6] Thekeel was laid down on 6 November 1972, atVickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd inBarrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The build was interrupted by a labour shortage at Vickers. To solve this problem, the unfinished hull was towed toSwan Hunter'sHawthorn Leslie yard inHebburn, Tyne and Wear and completed there.[7]
Type 42s were designed asanti-aircraft vessels primarily equipped with theSea Dart, asurface-to-air missile system capable of hitting targets up to 56 kilometres (30 nmi) away.[8]Cardiff's secondary weapon system was a4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun, capable of firing 21-kilogram (46 lb) shells to a range of 22 kilometres (12 nmi).[9] After the Falklands War, in which two Type 42s were sunk by enemy aircraft, the entire class was equipped with thePhalanxclose-in weapon system,[10] aGatling cannon that could fire 3,000 rounds per minute and was designed to shoot downanti-ship missiles.[11]
Cardiff waslaunched on 22 February 1974 byLady Caroline Gilmour.[12] Followingfitting-out andsea trials,Cardiffcommissioned on 24 September 1979 under command of CaptainBarry Wilson.[13] During the next 12 months of active service she steamed over 21,000 kilometres (13,000 mi) and undertook various duties. She returned to her place of construction,Tyne and Wear, so that theSwan Hunter crew who fitted her out could exhibit the warship to their families. In the spirit of establishing a firm association,Cardiff visited her namesake city and welcomed more than 7,000 people on board. Her crew raised over£1,000 for local charities by participating in sponsored bicycle rides anddinghy rows fromPortsmouth andNewcastle upon Tyne.BBC Radio Wales based an entire programme on her and she appeared on theBBC andITV national television channels. In November 1979,Cardiff coordinated the search for survivors of theMV Pool Fisher, which sank off theIsle of Wight with the loss of most of her crew.[13]
In 1980, she attended the annualNavy Days event at Portsmouth andPortland Harbour, receiving a total of 17,300 visitors. In October of the same year, she ventured abroad for the first time on a visit toGhent, Belgium. She followed this with a fortnight of Sea Dart exercises on a range offAberporth, inSouth Wales. Whilst in the region, the destroyer attended celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Cardiff'scity status.[13]
On 2 April 1982, the disputedBritish overseas territory of theFalkland Islands was invaded by neighbouring Argentina.[14] The United Kingdom, nearly 13,000 kilometres (8,000 mi) away, assembled and dispatched a navaltask force of 28,000 troops to recapture the islands.[14][15] The conflict ended that June with thesurrender of the Argentine forces; the battles fought on land, at sea, and in the air had cost the lives of some 900 British and Argentine servicemen.[14]
Just over a month before the start of the war,Cardiff, under the command of CaptainMichael Harris,[16] had begun a six-month deployment to thePersian Gulf with theArmilla Patrol.Cardiff had relieved her sister ship andclass leadSheffield from this operational tasking,[17] but was herself redeployed to the Falklands effort on 23 April. She sailed alone toGibraltar[17] and rendezvoused on 14 May with theBristol group of British warships already heading south to the islands.[18]
During the journey,Cardiff's crew performed various training exercises, including defence against air attack (involving simulation runs by friendlyHarrier andJaguar aircraft),nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons andExocet anti-ship missiles.[19] All British Type 42's involved in the war were instructed to paint two vertical black stripes down either side of the middle of their ships. This would allow the Royal Navy submarines to distinguish them from the two Argentine Type 42's.[20] On 22 May, an Argentine reconnaissanceBoeing 707, no. TC-92 of theArgentine Air Force'sGrupo 1, De Transporte Aereo Escuadron II (Spanish for "2nd Air Transport Squadron, Group 1"), was fired on byCardiff.[21] The aircraft was detected while shadowing the Bristol group, andCardiff was ordered to drop back and engage.[21][22] The ship fired two Sea Darts at the aircraft at 11:40 (local time) from maximum range; the first fell short and second missed[21] due to evasive manoeuvres taken by the aircraft's crew.[23] After the attack, TC-92 dropped below radar level and returned toEl Palomar.[23] On 25 May,Cardiff was tasked with the recovery of fourSpecial Air Service (SAS) troopers, who had parachuted from aC-130 Hercules passing over the destroyer.[19]
The Bristol group met up with the main task force on 26 May.[24]Cardiff's arrival allowed the damagedGlasgow to return to the United Kingdom for repairs.[25][26]Cardiff's primary role was to form part of the anti-aircraft warfarepicket, protecting British ships from air attack and attempting to ambush Argentine aircraft that were re-supplyingPort Stanley Airport.[27][28] She was also required to fire at enemy positions on the islands with her4.5-inch gun. In one engagement she fired 277 high-explosive rounds.[19]
In the early hours of 6 June,Cardiff shot down a friendlyArmy Air CorpsGazelle helicopter (no. XX377 of656 Squadron), in the belief it was a low flying enemy C-130 Hercules.[29][30] All four on board were killed,[31] the factors contributing to the accident were a poor level of communication between the army and navy, and the helicopter's "Identification Friend or Foe" transmitter had been turned off due to it interfering with other equipment.[29][30] However a board of inquiry recommended that neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual and that no action should be taken against any individual.[32] The number "205" was later painted at the crash site (51°47′01″S58°28′04″W / 51.783600°S 58.467786°W /-51.783600; -58.467786) as a memorial, the significance being that two of the helicopter's passengers were from205 Signal Squadron.
Approximately an hour after the Gazelle shoot-down,Cardiff spotted fourlanding craft carrying troops from the 2nd Battalion,Scots Guards.[17] Having been told there were no British forces in the area,Cardiff's crew assumed they were Argentine and firedstar shells in preparation for an attack. When the Guards saw the star shells and realisedCardiff's intentions, the officer in charge, MajorEwen Southby-Tailyour, moved them into shallow water.Cardiff, still closing on the craft, signalled the single word "friend" viaAldis lamp. Southby-Tailyour replied, "to which side".[33] At this point,Cardiff broke off,[33] avoiding a secondFriendly fire incident.[34]
On the morning of 13 June, two ArgentineDagger aircraft attackedCardiff's Lynx helicopter, (ZF558) of829 NAS, while it was searching in theFalkland Sound area. Poor weather had forced the Argentine craft to abandon their original mission of bombingMount Longdon, and the third Dagger of their formation had suffered a mechanical failure and returned to base.[35] The Lynx began evasive manoeuvres and dodged the attacks; the pilot, LieutenantChristopher Clayton, wasmentioned in despatches for his efforts.[36]
Argentina surrendered on 14 June, andCardiff was required to accept the surrender of a 700-strong Argentine garrison in the settlement ofPort Howard on West Falkland a day later.[19] Five members ofCardiff's crew were used to man a captured Argentine patrol boat, renamedHMS Tiger Bay, inStanley.[37]Cardiff spent the rest of June acting as the Landing Area Air Warfare Controller (LAAWC) aroundSan Carlos.[19]
Over the course of the war,Cardiff fired nine Sea Dart missiles and oneMk 46 torpedo.[19] She returned to the United Kingdom on 28 July 1982, having left the Falklands three weeks earlier along withExeter andYarmouth.[17] Captain Michael Harris handed over command on 24 August 1982, after the annual maintenance period.[19] Following the war, all Type 42 destroyers were fitted withOerlikon 30 mm twin cannons port and starboard, for protection against airborne threats. These were later replaced by thePhalanxclose-in weapon system.[10]
WhenSaddam Hussein'sIraq invadedKuwait on 2 August 1990, BritishSecretary of State for DefenceTom King soon announced that the UK military contribution to the region was to be increased.[38] Acoalition of nations was formed, and a combined naval force entered thePersian Gulf and sailed north, neutralising theIraqi Navy as it went, and then began conductingnaval gunfire support andmine counter-measure missions in preparation for the main amphibious landing force.[38]
Having returned from the Persian Gulf in May 1990, after only a few months in UKCardiff sailed again, as a reinforcement to Group X-Ray,Brazen,London andGloucester who had sailed to relieve Armilla Group Whiskey, which consisted ofBattleaxe,Jupiter andYork.[38]Cardiff andGloucester were to form part of the air defence barrier along withBunker Hill,Princeton andWorden protecting three United Statesaircraft carriers:Midway,Ranger andTheodore Roosevelt.[38]Cardiff had other responsibilities, including surface surveillance[38] and boarding operations, to maintain the security around the task force.[39]
Royal NavyLynxes operated in combination with United StatesSeahawks during theGulf War. The American helicopters lacked an effective anti-ship missile but had superior surveillance capability compared to the British aircraft. Seahawks would locate hostile vessels for the Lynxes, which would then engage withSea Skua missiles.[40] In total, Lynx helicopters flew nearly 600 sorties during the conflict,[38] while crews and engineers maintained flying rates three times their normal level.[41]
Despite her parent ship avoiding mines and maintaining the air defence line as the closest non-United States warship to Kuwait during the first four weeks of the 1991 Gulf War,Cardiff's Lynx (ZF558) of815 NAS[42] undertook most of her combat operations in the conflict. On 24 January 1991, her Lynx located Iraqiminesweepers and landing craft moving to support Iraqi forces during theBattle of Khafji, sinking one in the first successful British naval action of the war.[43] Later that day, coalition forces capturedQaruh Island, the first Kuwaiti territory to be liberated.
On the night of 30–31 January, operating with Lynxes fromGloucester andBrazen, ZF558 attacked Iraqi missile-armed fast patrol boats leaving theShatt al-Arab.[38] In February, ZF558 sank two more Iraqi vessels just before she andBrazen were relieved by Group Yankee, comprisingBrave,Brilliant,Exeter andManchester.[38]
After the Gulf War,Cardiff's assignments included a deployment with theStanding Naval Force Mediterranean, a postCold WarNATO immediate reaction force in theMediterranean, and counter-narcotics patrols in theWest Indies, during which she also assisted with relief tasks on the island ofEleuthera in the wake ofHurricane Andrew.[44][45] From 1993 to 1994, she was commanded byRichard Leaman.[46]
Cardiff later returned to thePersian Gulf for seven months.[47]
On 14 October 1994, in response to renewed Iraqi deployment of troops near the Kuwaiti border, the US-ledOperation Vigilant Warrior began. The operation was designed to deter Saddam Hussein's "sabre-rattling" by sending large amounts of allied military forces to Kuwait;Cornwall andCardiff were the UK contribution.[48] The operation ended on 21 December 1994, when Hussein pulled back his forces.
Upon her return to the UK from Operation Vigilant Warrior,Cardiff participated in the 1995 NATO exercise "Strong Resolve", a training exercise conducted every four years in dual crisis management. The ship next underwent Operational Sea Training (OST) atPortland, in preparation for assuming the duty ofFleet Ready Escort, which required a ship to be available to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice. After completing OST, she attended the 50thVE Day anniversary inCopenhagen andOslo and provided navigational sea training for frigate and destroyer navigating officer candidates. A visit to her namesake city of Cardiff forVJ Day celebrations followed, after which she sailed to Plymouth for a trials and weapon training programme. She then took part inOperation Bright Star, a multi-national exercise conducted every two years inEgypt. In November,Cardiff became the first Royal Navy ship to enter theLebanese capital ofBeirut in 27 years, spurring the creation of theBeirut Phoenicians Rugby Club,[49] followed by visits toTunisia and Gibraltar.[47]
In 2000, as part of the Royal Navy'sAtlantic Patrol Task North,Cardiff spent six months in theCaribbean withRFABlack Rover.[50] They provided relief aid to the island ofCaye Caulker, nearBelize, in the wake ofHurricane Keith. In addition to clearing routes, distributing supplies, and making buildings and electrical cables safe,Cardiff's surgeon and medical team monitored sanitation.[51] In October, they also took part in the NATO exercise "Unified Spirit", held off the east coast of the United States. "Unified Spirit" is a training exercise conducted every four years in NATO-led "out-of-area" UN peace support operations.[52] In the same year she participated in the US Navy Fleet Battle Exercise after her combat system was integrated into theDigital Fires Network.[53]
Cardiff conducted her lastArmilla patrol in early 2003.[54] During her time in the Persian Gulf,Cardiff prevented more than £2 million of illegal cargo from being smuggled out of Iraq, inspected 178 vessels, and seized more than 25,000 tonnes of oil. The destroyer was relieved byRichmond before the beginning of theIraq War and returned to Portsmouth on 4 April 2003.[55] In late 2003, the ship was involved in the annual Sea Days demonstration exercise,[56] and in October was used for tests ofQinetiQ's Maritime Tactical Network.[57]
In 2005, she participated in theTrafalgar 200International Fleet Review, just two weeks before she was decommissioned.[58] In this post Gulf War period, the Royal Navy's first female chaplain also served on board.[59]
Cardiff was originally to be replaced in 2009 byDaring, the first of the Royal Navy's next generationType 45 destroyers.[60] However, it was announced in July 2004 that she would be one of a number of ships withdrawn from service early, in accordance with the "Delivering Security in a Changing World"white paper on the British military.[61]
Cardiff wasdecommissioned on 14 July 2005, after making a final visit to her namesake city, where members of the public were allowed on board.[5] She then stayed inPortsmouth Harbour atFareham Creek (50°49′07″N1°07′50″W / 50.818486°N 1.130644°W /50.818486; -1.130644) alongside sister shipNewcastle, where both were heavily cannibalised to keep the remaining Type 42 Destroyers running.
On 21 November 2008, the two ships left Portsmouth for the last time forAliağa, Turkey under tow for scrapping.[62][63] Following a decommissioning ceremony atCardiff City Hall, her bell was removed and is now mounted in the north aisle ofSt John's Parish Church in Cardiff.[64][65] Calls were made for the conversion of the ship into a Cardiff tourist attraction by aMember of the National Assembly for Wales and former naval servicemen.[66][67]
Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, has been assigned as the current Royal Navy ship to be affiliated with the city of Cardiff.[68]
On 1 March 2018,Defence SecretaryGavin Williamson announced that the thirdType 26 frigate would be namedCardiff. This will be the fourth Royal Navy vessel of its name.[69][70]
HMS Cardiff.
HMS Cardiff.
HMS Cardiff lynx minesweeper.
Personnel from HMSCardiff, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Simon Turnbull Royal Navy, and RFABlack Rover, under Captain Dale Worthington Royal Fleet Auxiliary, are relieving soldiers of No.7 Company Coldstream Guards, who have been helping distribute relief aid on the island of Caye Caulker. HMSCardiff's surgeon and medical team are on hand to treat any injuries and are monitoring the sanitation and health situation. In addition to clearing routes, making buildings safe and continuing to ensure food and water is distributed, the Ships Companies are also making safe electric cables so that no further damage is caused when power to the island is eventually restored.[dead link]
Portsmouth warship HMSCardiff returns home on Friday 4th April from successful anti-smuggling missions in the Persian Gulf. During six months away the Type 42 destroyer prevented more than £2m of illegal cargo being smuggled out of Iraq before the war started. Captain Tim Fraser,Cardiff's Commanding Officer, said his crew were glad to be back after a busy and demanding operation during which they boarded 178 vessels and seized more than 25,000 tonnes of oil.Cardiff handed over her Armilla duties last month to Portsmouth frigate HMSRichmond.[dead link]
Mae gan ran o'r HMSCardiff, y llong ryfel a gafodd ei digomisiynu yn gynharach eleni, bellach gartref parhaol yn ei dinas ei hun. [A part of HMSCardiff, the warship which was decommissioned earlier this year, has a permanent place in its home city.]
| External image | |
|---|---|
 Artist's depiction of the encounter with the Argentine Boeing 707 |
 Royal Navy | |
|---|---|
 Argentine NavyHércules class | |
| |
