HMS Norfolk (F230)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 29 October 1984 |
| Laid down: | 14 December 1985 |
| Launched: | 10 July 1987 |
| Commissioned: | 1 June 1990 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 April 2005 |
| Fate: | Sold to Chile |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,900 tonnes |
| Length: | 133 m (463 ft) |
| Beam: | 16.1 m (52.9 ft) |
| Draught: | 7.3 m |
| Propulsion: | CODLAG (Combined Diesel-eLectric And Gas) 2 Rolls-Royce Spey boost gas-turbines 4 Paxman Valenta diesel engines 2 GEC electric motors |
| Speed: | 28 knots, 15 knots on diesel-electric |
| Range: | 7,800 miles at 15 knots |
| Complement: | 185 |
| Armament: | 2 ASuW Harpoon quad launchers Vertical launch system Sea Wolf missiles BAE 4.5 inch (110 mm) Mk 8 gun 2 Oerlikon 30 mm guns 4 Sting Ray torpedo tubes Seagnat and DFL3 decoy launchers |
| Aircraft: | Lynx HMA8 |
| Motto: | Serviens Servo (Serving I Preserve) |
The sixth HMS Norfolk (F230) was laid down in 1985 by Yarrow Shipbuilders. She was launched on the Clyde by HRH the late Princess Margaret, the Countess of Snowdon in July 1987. She was commissioned in November 1989. She was the first of the Type 23 or Duke-class frigates. The ship is a heavily armed, sleek and modern craft, highly automated with computer systems that significantly decrease the size of the crew.
In 1994, Norfolk became the first Royal Navy warship to visit South Africa in over 20 years, a visit designed to show that Britain was ready to welcome her back into the fold after so many years of isolation because of apartheid. Since then, she has conducted many operations, including a deployment to Sierra Leone in 2000, as part of a Royal Navy task force ordered to assist in the restoration of peace and stability to the then war-torn West African nation. She has also served in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, as well as being involved in Standing Naval Force Atlantic. Other duties sometimes include being a guardship for the British South Atlantic Territories, as well as the Caribbean.
Norfolk was also the first Royal Navy warship to be re-armed with the new 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mod 1 gun system. In July 2004, it was announced that Norfolk would be one of three Type 23 frigates decommissioned by the end of 2007. Norfolk entered her home port for the last time at then end of November 2004 was decommissioned at Devonport on 15 April 2005, the guest of honour being then Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, who had been HMS Norfolk's first Commanding Officer. In June 2005, it was announced that Norfolk would be sold to the Chilean Navy, to be delivered in 2006. She will be renamed Almirante Cochrane.
See HMS Norfolk for other ships of the name.
| Type 23 frigate |
| Norfolk | Argyll | Lancaster | Marlborough | Iron Duke | Monmouth | Montrose | Westminster | Northumberland | Richmond | Somerset | Grafton | Sutherland | Kent | Portland | St Albans |
List of frigates of the Royal Navy |
