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HMS Antrim (D18)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Antrim and Chilean ship Cochrane.
The Chilean destroyer Cochrane
Chilean destroyer Cochrane
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Antrim
Ordered5 January 1965
BuilderUpper Clyde Shipbuilders
Laid down20 January 1966
Launched19 October 1967
Sponsored byMrs Roy Mason, wife of then Minister of Defence (Equipment), Roy Mason
Commissioned14 July 1970
Decommissioned1984
Identificationpennant number: D18
Honours and
awards		Falklands War
FateSold to Chile on 22 June 1984
Chile
NameAlmirante Cochrane
NamesakeThomas Cochrane
Acquired22 June 1984
Decommissioned7 December 2006
General characteristics
Class and typeTemplate:Sclass2-
Displacement5,440 tonnes (6,850 tonnes full load)
Length522 ft (159 m)
Beam53 ft (16 m)
Draught20 ft (6.1 m)
PropulsionCOSAG (Combined steam and gas) turbines, 2 shafts
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × Wessex HAS Mk 3 helicopter Humphrey
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and enclosed hangar for embarking one helicopter

HMS Antrim was a Template:Sclass- destroyer of the Royal Navy launched on 19 October 1967. Following Royal Navy service, including the Falklands War, she was sold to the Chilean Navy in 1984 and scrapped in 2010.

Royal Navy service

Antrim first commissioned in 1970 and served her first commission in home and Mediterranean waters.[1] In the mid-1970s, the Royal Navy removed 'B' turret and replaced it with four Exocet missile launchers to give her a much more powerful anti-ship capability. In 1976 her commission included a visit to Stockholm where she represented the Royal Navy at the wedding of the King of Sweden.[2]

In 1982 she formed part of the Royal Navy task force for service in the Falklands War. She was the flagship of Operation Paraquet, the recovery of South Georgia in April 1982.[3] Her helicopter, a Westland Wessex HAS.Mk3, was responsible for the rescue of 16 SAS men from Fortuna Glacier. The aircraft played a key role in the detection and disabling of the Argentinian submarine Santa Fe. Captain Largos, commander of the Argentine forces on South Georgia, signed the surrender document for the Argentine Forces there in her wardroom. Lieutenant-Commander Alfredo Astiz signed a separate document shortly afterwards aboard HMS Plymouth.[citation needed] While supporting the main landing on the Falkland Islands at San Carlos Water, a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb hit Antrim, but did not explode, and she fired her Sea Slug Missile at an Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawk without hitting it.

A name board formerly belonging to her now resides in the Falkland Islands Museum, Stanley.[4]

HMS Antrim in 1976.

Transfer to Chilean Navy

Antrim was Template:Sdiy and sold to Chile on 22 June 1984. The Chileans renamed her Almirante Cochrane after Thomas Cochrane, who had commanded the Chilean Navy from 1817 to 1822. In 1994 Almirante Cochrane underwent the same refit as her sister ship Blanco Encalada. This entailed removing her Sea Slug launcher and extending her deck aft to allow the installation of a new, larger hangar. In 1996 she received the Barak SAM in place of her Seacat launchers.

The Chilean Navy decommissioned Almirante Cochrane on 7 December 2006. On 11 December 2010, she was towed to China for scrap.

Affiliates as HMS Antrim

As part of her relationship with County Antrim, she carried a piece of the Giant's Causeway mounted in the ship's main passageway, appropriately also named the Giant's Causeway.[6]

Commanding Officers

From To Captain
1970 1971 Captain H W E Hollins RN
1971 1973 Captain D A Loram MVO RN
1973 1974 Captain George A F Bower RN
1974 1975 Captain Harry R Keate RN
1975 1977 Captain R Michael Burgoyne RN
1977 1979 Captain Gordon F Walwyn RN
1979 1981 Captain Michael F Parry RN
1981 1983 Captain B G Young DSO RN
1983 1984 Captain Jake D L Backus RN

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/pdf-docs/antrim03.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/pdf-docs/antrim01.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/pdf-docs/antrim09.pdf
  4. ^ HMS Gloucester delivers Task Force South exhibit to Falklands Museum
  5. ^ HMS Antrim and the Royal Irish Rangers
  6. ^ Navy News - Fact Card - HMS Antrim

Publications

  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Yates, D. (2006) Bomb Alley - Falklands War 1982: Aboard HMS Antrim at War, Pen & Sword Maritime, ISBN 1-84415-417-3
  • Parry, Chris (2012) "Down South: a Falklands War Diary" Viking Penguin ISBN 978-0-670-92145-4

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