Visited with Rigsby.
Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be.....a sailor. We set off from Brum late evening and headed straight for Birkenhead to do a double hit on the ships in the area. Out of the two of them, HMS Bronnington was my favourite because we were able to get inside but my photos are awful so I can't show you them. However, that's not to say HMS Plymouth didn't have its charms. First of all, it's a much bigger boat and you really feel like you could take on some pirates when you're aboard it. I don't think I'd been on a nice ship like this since Intrepid when it was docked in Liverpool and ships are bloody brilliant so more of them please thankyou
Thanks for looking, here's a bit of history if you want to know more about it:
HMS Plymouth is a ‘Rothesay’ class, type 12, anti-submarine Frigate. Her keel was laid down in Devonport
on 1st July 1958 and she was launched just over a year later on 20th July 1959, the ceremony being carried
out by Nancy, Viscountess Astor. Her fitting out was completed two years later in Plymouth, and she was
commissioned on 11th May 1961. Powered by twin steam turbines, providing propulsion to two screws, she
was capable of a top speed of 28 knots. Her dimensions are 370ft (113m) in length by 41ft (13m) breadth,
with a draught of 17ft (5m) and a displacement of 2,800 tonnes. Armament consisted of two 4.5" guns,
four 20mm guns. She carried a normal compliment of 250 officers and crew.
Her first commissions as part of the 4th Frigate Squadron and the 22nd and 29th Escort Squadrons were
to take her to the Far East, participating in various exercises and operations, before returning in 1966
to the Naval Dockyard at Chatham for a substantial re-fit. Re-emerging in the January of 1969 the
conversion work had entailed:-
The provision of a flight deck for the Wasp helicopter along with the subsequent removal of one of the Mortars.
The installation of a Sea Cat missile system to replace her 40mm guns, and a program of general modernisation
work throughout the vessel.
For the next few years she would spend time in the Indian Ocean, Far East, Australia and a
number of European ports, before returning home to Devonport, for a re-fit.
The next commission took HMS Plymouth to the West Indies for the first time, returning home eighteen
months later in the February 1973. After a short period in Icelandic waters and the Mediterranean she
docked in Gibraltar for further maintenance, returning to Britain on 11th December 1974. Leaving the
UK in 1975 as a member of the 8th Frigate Squadron she participated in exercises in the Mediterranean,
South China Sea and Australia, returning via the USA and Caribbean, before further exercises en-route
back to Britain whilst crossing the Atlantic. The remainder of the decade she would be found in more
local waters being engaged in coastal patrols as well as work in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.
In 1977 HMS Plymouth was present at Spithead for the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, and in July
1978 HMS Plymouth returned to the UK for a major re-fit, being re-commissioned on 23rd January 1981.
http://www.hmsplymouth.co.uk/history.html
Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be.....a sailor. We set off from Brum late evening and headed straight for Birkenhead to do a double hit on the ships in the area. Out of the two of them, HMS Bronnington was my favourite because we were able to get inside but my photos are awful so I can't show you them. However, that's not to say HMS Plymouth didn't have its charms. First of all, it's a much bigger boat and you really feel like you could take on some pirates when you're aboard it. I don't think I'd been on a nice ship like this since Intrepid when it was docked in Liverpool and ships are bloody brilliant so more of them please thankyou
Thanks for looking, here's a bit of history if you want to know more about it:
HMS Plymouth is a ‘Rothesay’ class, type 12, anti-submarine Frigate. Her keel was laid down in Devonport
on 1st July 1958 and she was launched just over a year later on 20th July 1959, the ceremony being carried
out by Nancy, Viscountess Astor. Her fitting out was completed two years later in Plymouth, and she was
commissioned on 11th May 1961. Powered by twin steam turbines, providing propulsion to two screws, she
was capable of a top speed of 28 knots. Her dimensions are 370ft (113m) in length by 41ft (13m) breadth,
with a draught of 17ft (5m) and a displacement of 2,800 tonnes. Armament consisted of two 4.5" guns,
four 20mm guns. She carried a normal compliment of 250 officers and crew.
Her first commissions as part of the 4th Frigate Squadron and the 22nd and 29th Escort Squadrons were
to take her to the Far East, participating in various exercises and operations, before returning in 1966
to the Naval Dockyard at Chatham for a substantial re-fit. Re-emerging in the January of 1969 the
conversion work had entailed:-
The provision of a flight deck for the Wasp helicopter along with the subsequent removal of one of the Mortars.
The installation of a Sea Cat missile system to replace her 40mm guns, and a program of general modernisation
work throughout the vessel.
For the next few years she would spend time in the Indian Ocean, Far East, Australia and a
number of European ports, before returning home to Devonport, for a re-fit.
The next commission took HMS Plymouth to the West Indies for the first time, returning home eighteen
months later in the February 1973. After a short period in Icelandic waters and the Mediterranean she
docked in Gibraltar for further maintenance, returning to Britain on 11th December 1974. Leaving the
UK in 1975 as a member of the 8th Frigate Squadron she participated in exercises in the Mediterranean,
South China Sea and Australia, returning via the USA and Caribbean, before further exercises en-route
back to Britain whilst crossing the Atlantic. The remainder of the decade she would be found in more
local waters being engaged in coastal patrols as well as work in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.
In 1977 HMS Plymouth was present at Spithead for the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, and in July
1978 HMS Plymouth returned to the UK for a major re-fit, being re-commissioned on 23rd January 1981.
http://www.hmsplymouth.co.uk/history.html
