inside
destroyer
HMS GLAMORGAN
around Sea Slug and Sea In the missile age, in the 1982 conflict. steam/gas turbines. but her post-Falklands career
Cat missiles systems, each broadsides and gun Antrim fell victim to Apart from Sea Cat and Sea was relatively brief.
intended to blast incoming turrets were seen as Argentine air attack in Slug (plus Exocet later in life), She was sold to Chile,
enemy aircraft out of the sky. something of an ‘Bomb Alley’ – as her armament comprised two who promptly renamed her
The former was the long anachronism; on Falkland Sound 20mm Oerlikon guns, four Almirante Latorre and pressed
arm of the Fleet, engaging many of the class, was quickly saluting guns, torpedoes, and her into service for a dozen
jets at up to 20 miles away, the second turret dubbed – while a single Westland Wessex years.
hurtling through the sky at was removed Glamorgan earned anti-submarine helicopter She finally came out of
up to 1,370mph (in later during refits in the the distinction of equipped with ‘dipping’ commission in 1998 and was
variants). 1970s and replaced being the first ship sonar. laid up for seven years before
Sea Cat was the mainstay with French-built to survive an Exocet By the standards of the sinking in 2005 while being
anti-air defence for much of the Exocet anti-ship attack when she was day, living conditions for the towed to the breaker’s yard.
Cold War Fleet. It possessed missiles. struck on June 12 1982 500 officers and men were As for her sisters, HMS
a much shorter range (500 And so with all the – two days before the war’s remarkably good; the galleys London was sold to Pakistan
yards to three miles) and a technological wizardry it is end. promised facilities “any (broken up in 1995), Devonshire
much slower rocket engine perhaps ironic that when war HMS Glamorgan – motto I housewife would admire”; was sunk by Sea Harriers as a
(powering the small missile to came to the South Atlantic in fyny bo’r nod, I give way to there was an on-board TV target ship in the Atlantic in
Mach 0.8). the austral autumn of 1982, no-one – was laid down at system, a 24-hour laundry, 1984, Hampshire was broken
And so the Royal Navy the two County-class ships the Vickers-Armstrong Yard in education facilities, a sick bay up in 1979, Kent ended her
had its first guided missile despatched to the Falklands Newcastle on September 13 and dentist’s surgery, and the days as an accommodation
destroyers. frequently found themselves 1962. all-important NAAFI store. ship for Sea Cadets before
But the Counties were far on the gunline, pounding Twenty-two months later Glamorgan’s Wessex was being sold for scrap in 1998,
more than simply guardians Argentine positions in South Lady Brecon uttered the destroyed in the Exocet attack and HMS Fife also went to
against air attack. Georgia (in the case of HMS immortal words “I name this which struck the hangar. As Chile before paying off in
When built they were Antrim) and on East Falkland ship...” and the destroyer with HMS Sheffield six weeks 2003.
equipped with twin 4.5in gun (in Glamorgan’s gathered pace down the earlier, the missile failed to The last active members
turrets on the forecastle – HMS case). slipway, thrusting into the explode but it did cause a of the class – Almirante
London had the distinction of Both Tyne. conflagration which killed 14 Cochrane (HMS Antrim) and
firing the final broadside in the ships were Glamorgan displaced 5,000 sailors. Capitan Prat (HMS Norfolk)
Senior Service’s illustrious badly tons, powered along at speeds She returned to Portsmouth – finally left service with the
history in December 1981. damaged of up to 30kts by six combined in July 1982 and was refitted, Chilean Navy in 2006.
© Navy News and Ross Watton 2007
Cutaway_NN_Apr.indd 2 21/3/07 12:00:18
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