HMS Hampshire (D06)
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2012) |
| HMS Hampshire HMS Hampshire
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Hampshire |
| Ordered | 27 January 1956 |
| Builder | John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland |
| Laid down | 26 March 1959[1] |
| Launched | 16 March 1961[1] |
| Commissioned | 15 March 1963[1] |
| Decommissioned | 1976[1] |
| Identification | pennant number: D06 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap in 1979 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Template:Sclass2- |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Complement | 471[3] |
| Sensors and processing systems |
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| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried | 1 × Wessex helicopter |
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HMS Hampshire was a Template:Sclass2- destroyer of the Royal Navy. Laid down, in March 1959 a couple of weeks behind the class leader Devonshire, she was classified as a guided missile destroyer, as the Sea Lords regarded the concept of the cruiser and big gun ship as discredited by the perceived failure of the Template:Sclass- and the obsolescence of the heavy gun. The description of guided missile destroyer seemed more likely to win approval from the Treasury and Government for an adequate number of warships the size of small cruisers, which could play many traditional cruiser flagship and command functions, but had no armour around its gun and missile magazine.
Operational service
From her third Commission in 1967 Hampshire flew the flag of the Flag Officer, Western Fleet (United Kingdom).[4] In July 1969 she was present at Torbay for the Royal Review and presentation of a new colour to the Western Fleet (United Kingdom).[4]
Decommissioning and disposal
In the late 1960s there were plans to upgrade Hampshire and sister destroyers armed with Seaslug Mk 1, with Seaslug Mk 2 and a digital combat system being fitted, but the upgrade of Hampshire and Devonshire was cancelled on 31 March 1967 because of the amount of the time the ships would be out of the operational fleet, with the remaining two upgrades cancelled in 1968.[5]
In 1976 she was the first of the County-class destroyers to be decommissioned. This was at a time the Labour Government was making severe defence cuts under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She was cannibalised for spares to service her sister ships and subsequently sold for scrap in 1979.
Commanding Officers
| From | To | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 1964 | Captain Robert White RN |
| 1964 | 1966 | Captain F W Hayden DSC RN |
| 1966 | 1967 | Captain Ian W McLaughlan RN |
| 1967 | 1969 | Captain R A Trowbridge RN |
| 1969 | 1970 | Captain R P Clayton RN |
| 1970 | 1973 | In refit |
| 1973 | 1975 | Captain I F Beeson RN |
| 1975 | 1976 | Captain Michael C Henry RN |
References
Publications
- Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1971). Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
- 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.
- Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- McCart, Neil (2014). County Class Guided Missile Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 978-1904459637.
- Moore, John (1985). Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86. London: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0 7106-0814-4.
See also
- List of ship launches in 1961
- List of ship commissionings in 1963
- List of ship decommissionings in 1976
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 Chilean Navy |
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 Pakistan Navy |
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