HMS St Albans (F83)

HMS "St Albans" (F83) is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the sixth ship to bear the name and is the sixteenth and final ship in the "Duke" class of frigates.

Her current commanding officer is Commander Adrian K M Pierce RN, who took command in early 2008. Her base is Portsmouth.

History

The ship was launched on the River Clyde on Saturday 6th May 2000 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/738799.stm BBC News - Launch of HMS St Albans (6 May 2000)] ] . She was built at BAE Systems' Yarrows Yard in Scotstoun, Glasgow.

On the 27 October 2002, before she had even entered operational service, HMS "St Albans" collided with the P&O ferry "Pride of Portsmouth" when gale force winds pushed the ferry into the ship whilst returning to her berth in Portsmouth. HMS "St Albans" suffered damage to the gun deck, the sea boat supports (davits) and the bridge wing. However, no members of the crew were injured. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2365603.stm BBC News - 'Navy frigate damaged in ferry collision' (27 October 2002)] ]

In 2004, Commander Steve Dainton RN took command and the ship was deployed on Operation Oracle duties in the Arabian Sea.

In July 2004 the crew were granted Freedom of the City by the Mayor of St Albans.

On the 13 February 2006, HMS "St Albans" departed on a six-month deployment to the Gulf region. She arrived in the region in early April, where her tasks included protecting Iraqi oil platforms as well as patrol duties in the northern Gulf [ [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.4778 Royal Navy - 'HMS St Albans: Gulf Deployment' (15 Feb 2006)] ] . During the trip, she provided a diplomatic role by visiting 16 countries, including Algeria, Albania, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lebanon (before the 2006 conflict with Israel.)

Evacuation of British citizens from Lebanon

As of the 12 July 2006, the ship had completed her tour in the Gulf and had begun her long journey back to Portsmouth. However, on the same day, the conflict between Israel and Lebanon began. As a result, it was announced on Monday 17 July by The Ministry of Defence that HMS "St Albans", which was on a route that would take it through the eastern Mediterranean (via the Suez canal), had been redeployed to assist in the evacuation of British citizens trapped in Lebanon (Operation Highbrow) [ [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.6227 Royal Navy - HMS St Albans in the Lebanon (24 July 2006)] ] . She arrived in the area on Thursday 20 July and on Friday 21 July she picked up 243 evacuees from the dock in Beirut and safely transported them to Cyprus [ [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/Over3500EvacuatedFromLebanonByBritishForces.htm Ministry of Defence - Over 3,500 evacuated from Lebanon by British Forces (21 July 2006)] ] . After completing her role in the evacuation, she remained on operational stand-by in the vicinity of Beirut for a short time before being ordered to return home, their original aim. The ship finally arrived back in Portsmouth on 18 August 2006 [ [http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.6487 Royal Navy - 'Lebanon Evacuation Warship Returns to Portsmouth' (18 August 2006)] ] .

After the tour

Following the ship's successful 6-month tour, the ship underwent maintenance. During this time, the ship received a new CO, Commander Mark Newland RN. He took over from Commander Steve Dainton RN, CO for the previous two years. The ship stayed in British waters, participated in submarine training in the Irish Sea, weapon training off the south coast and visited Glasgow on the 11 November 2006 to take part in Remembrance Sunday events. From 5 January until 15 January 2007 the ship was open to the public as part of the London Boat Show. Following this, the ship conducted various training exercises and engineering trials in the UK. The ships crew then went on Easter leave before returning to conduct more training activities.

Maintenance

In May 2007, HMS "St Albans" entered a period of maintenance that lasted over a year. The maintenance programme took place in dry dock, situated in Rosyth. Many systems were overhauled and replaced and the ship's crew temporarily re-assigned to other vessels while the ship underwent work. A skeleton crew of engineers supervised the work for the year. Included in the maintenance was the installation of a new Type 2087 sonar system and a conversion to allow the operation of Merlin helicopters, making the ship one of the Fleet’s most advanced frigates [ [http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.9788 Royal Navy - 'Multi- Million Pound Upgrade for Royal Navy’s HMS St Albans' (16th July 2007)] ] .

Current status

On the 20th May 2008, the ship's maintenance was reported to be in its finishing stages with tests of its new equipment scheduled to begin on the 30th May 2008.

The upgrade took 15 months and cost £15 million. The ship has since returned to its home port of Portsmouth and is due to be accepted back into the fleet in August 2008.

Affiliations

*The Royal Anglian Regiment
*RAF Marham
*City of St Albans
*Worshipful Company of Haberdashers

References

External links

* [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.1332 Royal Navy: HMS St Albans]