HMS Argonaut (F56)
_underway_on_the_Potomac_River_on_26_August_1985_(6409918).jpg)
The HMS Argonaut (F56) was a Leander- class frigate of the Royal Navy (United Kingdom). The name comes from the Greek and means fast driver . It refers to the Argonauts legend .
history
It was built by Hawthorn, Leslie & Company in Hebburn . It was launched on February 8, 1966. In the first year of operation, the HMS Argonaut guided the Queen Mary on her last Atlantic crossing before the conversion into a floating hotel. In 1971 she took part in the "Beira Patrol" operation, which was supposed to prevent oil deliveries to Rhodesia via Mozambique . The Argonaut had to evacuate British civilians in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus . It was modernized between 1976 and 1980. In 1981 she was deployed to the Armilla Patrol in the Persian Gulf . In the Falklands War of 1982, A-4 Skyhawks of the Argentine Air Force attacked the Argonaut and severely damaged it. Three people were killed. It returned to Devonport for repairs on June 26, 1982 . The Argonaut was decommissioned on March 31, 1993, and then scrapped two years later.
Technical specifications
- Class: Leander Class
- Length: 113.4 meters
- Draft: 5.8 meters
- Speed: 28 knots (52 km / h)
Armament
- 2 QF 4.5 inch ship guns (1 * 2)
- 4 Sea Cat anti-aircraft missiles (1 * 4)
- 1 limbo anti-submarine mortar
from 1980:
- 4 Exocet ship-to-ship missiles
- 8 Seacat anti-aircraft missiles (2 * 4)
- 2 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (2 * 1)
- 6 torpedo tubes (2 * 3)
helicopter
- 1 Westland Wasp (from 1980: Westland Lynx )