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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSApollo |
| Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down | 1 May 1969 |
| Launched | 15 October 1970 |
| Commissioned | 28 May 1972 |
| Decommissioned | 31 August 1988 |
| Identification | Pennant number: F70 |
| Fate | Sold to Pakistan, 1988 |
 Pakistan | |
| Name | PNSZulfiqar |
| Commissioned | 1988 |
| Decommissioned | 29 October 2006 |
| Identification | Pennant number: F262 |
| Fate | Sunk as target, 12 March 2010 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Leander-classfrigate |
| Displacement | 3,200long tons (3,251 t) full load |
| Length | 113.4 m (372 ft) |
| Beam | 12.5 m (41 ft) |
| Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft) |
| Propulsion | 2 ×Babcock & Wilcox boilers supplying steam to two sets of White-English Electric double-reduction geared turbines to two shafts |
| Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h) |
| Range | 4,600 nautical miles (8,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement | 223 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 ×Westland Wasp helicopter |
HMSApollo was a batch 3B broadbeamLeander-class frigate of theRoyal Navy. She was, like the rest of the class, named aftera figure of mythology.Apollo was built byYarrow Shipbuilders ofScotstoun. She was launched on 15 October 1970 and commissioned on 28 May 1972, making her the penultimateLeander.
BothApollo andAriadne are easily distinguished from the otherLeanders by their 'witches hat' – fitted to the top of the foremast as a part of the electronic warfare array.
Apollo was one of twoLeander-class frigates ordered on 29 July 1968 for the Royal Navy under the 1967–68 construction programme, the other beingAriadne and were the last twoLeanders built for the Royal Navy.[1][2] She waslaid down atYarrow Shipbuilders'Scotstoun,Glasgow shipyard on 1 May 1969[3][4][2] asYard number 1002.[5] She waslaunched on 15 October 1970 andcommissioned on 10 June 1972 with thePennant numberF70.[6]
Apollo was a Batch 3, "Broad-Beamed"Leander, and as such was 372 feet (113.4 m) longoverall and 360 feet (109.7 m)at the waterline, with abeam of 43 feet (13.1 m) and a maximumdraught of 19 feet (5.8 m).Displacement was 2,500 long tons (2,500 t) standard and 2,962 long tons (3,010 t) full load. Two oil-fired boilers fed steam at 550 pounds per square inch (3,800 kPa) and 850 °F (454 °C) to a pair of double reduction gearedsteam turbines that in turn drove two propeller shafts, with the machinery rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), giving a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph).[7]
A twin4.5-inch (113 mm) Mark 6 gun mount was fitted forward. A singleSea Catsurface-to-air missile launcher was fitted aft (on the Helicopter hangar roof), while twoOerlikon 20mm cannon provided close-in defence. ALimbo anti-submarine mortar was fitted aft to provide a short-range anti-submarine capability, while a hangar and helicopter deck allowed a singleWestland Wasp helicopter to be operated, for longer range anti-submarine and anti-surface operations.[8][9]
Apollo was fitted with a large Type 965 long range air searchradar on the ship's mainmast, with a Type 993 short range air/surface target indicating radar and Type 978 navigation radar carried on the ship's foremast. An MRS3 fire control system was carried to direct the 4.5-inch guns.[10] The ship had asonar suite of Type 184 medium range search sonar, Type 162 bottom search and Type 170 attack sonar.[11][12]
Apollo saw her first action during theSecond Cod War in 1973, during the fishing disputes withIceland, whenApollo, while on a fishery protection patrol, was in collision with the Icelandic gunboatICGV Ægir on 29 August 1973. One Icelandic engineer died later while welding a plate onÆgir's damaged hull, the only recorded fatality of the Cod Wars.[13][14]
In January 1977 the UK extended its territorial waters from 12 miles to 200 miles to create anexclusive economic zone for fishery rights.Apollo took turns with other frigates to police theNorth Sea pending the introduction into service of theIsland-class fishery protection vessels.
In 1977,Apollo took part in the lastFleet Review of the Royal Navy so far, in celebration ofQueen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. As captain of the Second Frigate Squadron,Apollo was responsible for anchorages of all warships at the Royal Fleet Review. In recognition of this work, the admiralty awarded the ship four rather than two 1977 QEII Silver Jubilee Medals.Apollo was positioned betweenHMS Hardy andHMS Salisbury.[15]
Apollo was intended to be modernised, (probably involving removal of her one 4.5-inch twin gun, which would have been replaced by theExocet anti-ship missile andSea Wolf anti-aircraft missiles, but possibly also involving fitting of a towed array sonar), but the modernisation was cancelled due to the1981 Defence Review by the minister,John Nott.[16][17] In June 1982,Apollo was sent to patrol theSouth Atlantic in the aftermath of theFalklands War, encountering heavy seas that damaged her hull. She returned home in October.[13][18] In late 1983Apollo once again returned to the South Atlantic.[13]
Apollo was refitted atDevonport between 30 July 1984 and 17 May 1985 at a cost of £11,000,000, recommissioning on 28 June that year. The ship's armament was unchanged, but Type 1006 navigation radar was fitted and the ship'sdavits and motor boat replaced by a light pole-derrick to handle lighter inflatable boats.[19]
In 1988,Apollo's Royal Navy career came to an end when she wasdecommissioned on 7 July and sold toPakistan on 15 July.[20] The ship was renamed PNSZulfiqar, and commissioning in thePakistan Navy on 14 October 1988.[21] From 1991 to 1993 she underwent a major refit and her 20 mm guns and Seacat system were replaced by twin 25 mm mounts, and her Westland Wasp was replaced by anSA 319B Alouette III helicopter.Zulfiqar continued in service for 18 years with thePakistan Navy until 29 October 2006 when she was decommissioned into training.
On 12 March 2010,Zulfiqar was sunk as a target in theArabian Sea. Torpedoes and missiles were fired from an F-22P frigate,P3C aircraft and anAgosta 90B submarine.[22][23]
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