HMS Campbeltown (F86)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Campbeltown.

HMS Campbeltown at HMNB Devonport in September 2008
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Campbeltown
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	January 1985
Builder	Cammell Laird
Laid down	4 December 1985
Launched	7 October 1987
Commissioned	27 May 1989
Decommissioned	7 April 2011
Homeport	HMNB Devonport, Plymouth
Identification	Pennant number: F86 Deck code: CT IMO number: 4907139 International callsign: GABK
Motto	Victoria Fortes Sequitur "Victory Through Strength"
Fate	Scrapped October 2013
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 22 frigate
Displacement	5,300 tons
Length	148.1 m (485 ft 11 in)
Beam	14.8 m (48 ft 7 in)
Draught	6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	2 × Rolls-Royce Spey gas turbines (high speed) 2 × Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines (cruising)
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (cruise) 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max)
Complement	250 (max. 301)
Armament	2 × Sea Wolf anti air system (Total of 72 Sea Wolf missiles) 2 × quad Harpoon missile launchers (total of 8 Harpoons) 2 × triple Magazine launched anti-submarine torpedo tubes (total of 36 torpedoes) 1 × 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mk.8 gun 2 × 20 mm GAM-BO1 guns 1 × Goalkeeper CIWS NATO Seagnat decoy launchers
Aircraft carried	2 x Lynx Mk.8 helicopters (but only 1 Lynx in peacetime). Armed with 4 × Sea Skua anti-ships missiles 2 × Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedoes 2 × Mk 11 depth charges 2 × Machine guns

HMS Campbeltown was a Batch 3 Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. Built by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Ltd. in Birkenhead, she was part of the third batch of Type 22s, which were considerably larger than their predecessors and incorporated more advanced weaponry after lessons learnt from the Falklands War. She was decommissioned on 7 April 2011.

History

Campbeltown's last deployment was a seven-month tour from 2007–2008 in the Persian Gulf, where she operated in support of Operation Calash and Operation Telic. In early 2004 the vessel was deployed as part of NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic. HMS Campbeltown entered refit in September 2008.

The ship's bell of the first HMS Campbeltown, a Second World War Template:Sclass2- famous for her role in the St. Nazaire Raid, was loaned from Campbelltown, Pennsylvania to the current Campbeltown for the duration of her Royal Navy service.

Decommissioning

The Royal Navy announced in March 2011 that Campbeltown would be decommissioned on 7 April 2011. She paid a final visit to her namesake town of Campbeltown, Argyll in March 2011 where a series of ceremonies, including a town centre parade by the ship's crew, took place to commemorate the end of the ship's active service. Campbeltown made her final entrance to Plymouth on 31 March 2011 before decommissioning in a traditional ceremony on 7 April 2011. She was laid up at Portsmouth and in July 2013 sold to Turkish company Leyal for demolition. She was towed to Turkey in Autumn 2013.

The ship's bell has now been returned to Campbelltown, Pennsylvania. The ship's bell made specifically for the latest HMS Campbeltown was given to Campbeltown, Kintyre, to be displayed in the town's museum until a future Campbeltown is commissioned.

Affiliations

Campbeltown was affiliated with a number of military and civic bodies:

• J Battery, 3 Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
• No. 24 Squadron RAF
• Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers
• Campbeltown, Argyll
• Campbelltown, Pennsylvania
• Springbank Distillery, Campbeltown, Argyll
• Birmingham Nautical Club
• TS Campbeltown
• Bridgewater Sea Cadet Corps
• Royal Marine Cadet Corps, Bradfield College, Reading
• CCF Naval Section, Gordon's School, Woking