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HMS Northumberland (F238)
Encyclopedia
HMS Northumberland (F238) is a Type 23
frigate
of the Royal Navy
. She is named after the Duke of Northumberland
. She is based at Devonport
.
, was launched by her sponsor Lady Kerr
in April 1992 and was accepted into Royal Naval Service in May 1994.
by Northumberland, in cooperation with a United States Coast Guard
law enforcement detachment
. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-events/rn-live/navy-drugs-bust-siezes-135m-of/*/changeNav/6568
, her first refit since build. This equipped her with an updated suite of weapons and sensors (e.g. a modified 4.5" Gun and the latest Low Frequency Active Sonar) and of propulsion and mechanical systems. Improvements were also made to the living quarters and a state of the art galley to feed the Ship's Company. Large areas of corroded deck have also been replaced. Also replaced were corroded areas of the flight deck, improving the lighting system that the pilots will use during night landings and installing a new helicopter handling system to move a 13 ton Merlin helicopter safely in and out of the hangar. (Although the Type 23 was originally designed to operate the Merlin, Northumberland had previously only hosted the much smaller Lynx.) This means she will not need another refit until 2010-2011.
celebrations entertainment Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then embarked for her first period of sea training, starting with BOST (Basic Operational Sea Training) in January 2006, straight after the Christmas leave period.http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.2778/changeNav/3533 For a time during 2006 she then accompanied the submarine HMS Torbay
on her deployment to the US AUTEC (Acoustic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Centre) which is based on Andros Island in the Bahamas.http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.3034/changeNav/3533
She returned from an 8 month deploment December 2010 on anti-piracy operations in the Gulf. Foiling many pirate hijacks on the worlds shipping. Reducing the number of overall pirated vessels in the months deployed.
She is affiliated to various organisations in Northumberland (Northumberland County Council
, the Light Dragoons, the Northumberland Foundation, the Bank Of England
's North Eastern Regional Agency, the Calvert Trust, RAF Boulmer
, the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne, and 'Spirit of Northumberland', the RNLI Tynemouth
Lifeboat http://www.tynemouth-lifeboat.org/html/hms_north_d.html), London (the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
, and the Worshipful Company of Bowyers
) and Bedford
(Dame Alice Harpur School
, Bedford High School and Bedford School
), along with Solihull School
CCF
, the Sea Cadets
, and TS Tenacity SCC & TS Dreadnought (Greenwich, Deptford & Rotherhithe Sea Cadets)
In honouring these affiliations, she regularly visits Newcastle (most recently in February 2011) and London, most recently mooring along the north side of HMS Belfast during April 2007 as part of the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act 1807. On that visit she was open to the public with a display on modern anti-slaving operations in which she and other ships of the Royal Navy take part. She also visited Baltimore
in June 2006, Marmaris
in Turkey in February 2003 and in October 2001 attended an Australian Fleet Review in Sydney.
Type 23 frigate
The Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate built for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships were first named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in...
frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She is named after the Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....
. She is based at Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
.
Construction
She was built by Swan Hunter in 1992 at WallsendWallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
, was launched by her sponsor Lady Kerr
Marquess of Lothian
Marquess of Lothian is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for Robert Kerr, 4th Earl of Lothian. The Marquess of Lothian holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Lothian , Earl of Lothian , Earl of Ancram , Earl of Ancram , Viscount of Briene , Lord Newbattle ,...
in April 1992 and was accepted into Royal Naval Service in May 1994.
Drugs bust
Over two tonnes of cocaine (with a street-value of £135 million) were seized in November 1999 in the Caribbean SeaCaribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
by Northumberland, in cooperation with a United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
law enforcement detachment
Law Enforcement Detachments
Law Enforcement Detachments or LEDETs are specialized, deployable maritime law enforcement teams of the United States Coast Guard. First established in 1982, their primary mission is to deploy aboard U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct and support law enforcement, interdiction, or security...
. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-events/rn-live/navy-drugs-bust-siezes-135m-of/*/changeNav/6568
2004/05 refit
From July 2004 to July 2005 she underwent an extensive refit at Number 1 dock inner at Babcock's dockyard in RosythRosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
, her first refit since build. This equipped her with an updated suite of weapons and sensors (e.g. a modified 4.5" Gun and the latest Low Frequency Active Sonar) and of propulsion and mechanical systems. Improvements were also made to the living quarters and a state of the art galley to feed the Ship's Company. Large areas of corroded deck have also been replaced. Also replaced were corroded areas of the flight deck, improving the lighting system that the pilots will use during night landings and installing a new helicopter handling system to move a 13 ton Merlin helicopter safely in and out of the hangar. (Although the Type 23 was originally designed to operate the Merlin, Northumberland had previously only hosted the much smaller Lynx.) This means she will not need another refit until 2010-2011.
2005-present
She rejoined the fleet by her attendance of "Bruno" at the Trafalgar 200Trafalgar 200
Trafalgar 200 was a series of events in 2005 held mostly in the United Kingdom to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, where a British fleet led by Admiral Nelson defeated a joint Franco-Spanish fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. During the summer of 2005 there was an...
celebrations entertainment Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then embarked for her first period of sea training, starting with BOST (Basic Operational Sea Training) in January 2006, straight after the Christmas leave period.http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.2778/changeNav/3533 For a time during 2006 she then accompanied the submarine HMS Torbay
HMS Torbay (S90)
HMS Torbay is a nuclear submarine of the Royal Navy and was the fourth vessel of her class.Torbay was the first vessel to be fitted with the new command system SMCS-NG , which meant that she was also the first Royal Navy vessel to put to sea under the "command" of the Microsoft Windows operating...
on her deployment to the US AUTEC (Acoustic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Centre) which is based on Andros Island in the Bahamas.http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.3034/changeNav/3533
She returned from an 8 month deploment December 2010 on anti-piracy operations in the Gulf. Foiling many pirate hijacks on the worlds shipping. Reducing the number of overall pirated vessels in the months deployed.
Affiliations and visits
Northumberland County Council
Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. It was originally formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of Northumberland and reformed in 1974 to cover a the newly formed non-metropolitan county of Northumberland...
, the Light Dragoons, the Northumberland Foundation, the Bank Of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
's North Eastern Regional Agency, the Calvert Trust, RAF Boulmer
RAF Boulmer
RAF Boulmer is a Royal Air Force station near Alnwick in Northumberland and is currently home to Aerospace Surveillance and Control System Force Command, Control and Reporting Centre Boulmer, the School of Aerospace Battle Management, No...
, the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne, and 'Spirit of Northumberland', the RNLI Tynemouth
Tynemouth
Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...
Lifeboat http://www.tynemouth-lifeboat.org/html/hms_north_d.html), London (the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division.The regiment was formed on April 23, 1968, as part of the reforms of the army that saw the creation of the first 'large infantry regiments', by the amalgamation of the four English fusilier...
, and the Worshipful Company of Bowyers
Worshipful Company of Bowyers
The Worshipful Company of Bowyers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, England.- History :Originally, the Bowyers and Fletchers formed one organisation. However, in 1371, the Fletchers petitioned the Lord Mayor of the City of London to divide into their own Company.The actual...
) and Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
(Dame Alice Harpur School
Dame Alice Harpur School
Dame Alice Harpur School is an independent girls school in Bedford, United Kingdom, for girls aged 11-18. In September 2010 the junior department of the school merged with the junior department of Bedford High School...
, Bedford High School and Bedford School
Bedford School
Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...
), along with Solihull School
Solihull School
Solihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
CCF
Combined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance,...
, the Sea Cadets
Sea Cadets
Sea Cadets are generally members of a Sea Cadet Corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in water borne activities and or the national Navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the Navy, Navy League or Naval supporter's organisation...
, and TS Tenacity SCC & TS Dreadnought (Greenwich, Deptford & Rotherhithe Sea Cadets)
In honouring these affiliations, she regularly visits Newcastle (most recently in February 2011) and London, most recently mooring along the north side of HMS Belfast during April 2007 as part of the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act 1807. On that visit she was open to the public with a display on modern anti-slaving operations in which she and other ships of the Royal Navy take part. She also visited Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
in June 2006, Marmaris
Marmaris
Marmaris is a port city and a tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in southwest Turkey, in Muğla Province.Marmaris' main source of income is tourism. Little is left of the sleepy fishing village that Marmaris was just a few decades ago after a construction boom in the 1980s...
in Turkey in February 2003 and in October 2001 attended an Australian Fleet Review in Sydney.