HMS Antelope (F170)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.png) Antelope's magazines exploding on 24 May 1982 |
|
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Antelope (F170) |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Vosper Thornycroft |
| Laid down: | 23 March 1971 |
| Launched: | 16 March 1972 |
| Commissioned: | 19 July 1975 |
| Motto: | Audax et vigilans ("Daring and watchful") |
| Fate: | Sunk by Argentine bombs on 24 May 1982 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type 21 frigate |
| Displacement: | 3,250 tons full load |
| Length: | 384 ft (117 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft 9 in (12.7 m) |
| Draught: | 19 ft 6 in (5.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | COGOG: 2 × Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbines 2 × Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1A gas turbines for cruising |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Range: | 4,000 nautical miles at 17 knots (7,400 km at 31 km/h) 1,200 nautical miles at 30 knots (2,220 km at 56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 177 |
| Armament: | 1 × 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 8 naval gun 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 1 × quadruple Sea Cat SAMs 2 × triple ASW torpedo tubes 2 × Corvus chaff launchers 1 × Type 182 towed decoy |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × Westland Wasp helicopter, later refitted for 1 × Lynx |
HMS Antelope (F170) was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy that participated in the Falklands War. Her keel was laid down March 23, 1971 by Vosper Thornycroft in Woolston, Southampton, England. She was commissioned July 17, 1975. She was the only unit of the class never to be fitted with Exocet launchers.
Antelope took part in the Falklands War. On May 23, 1982, while Antelope was on air defence duty at the entrance to San Carlos Water, protecting a beachhead established two days earlier, she came under attack by Argentine A-4 Skyhawk jets.
Two 1,100 pound (500 kg) bombs struck the ship on the starboard side, killing one crewman, Steward Mark R. Stephens. After initial damage control efforts, Antelope proceeded to more sheltered waters so that two EOD technicians from the Royal Corps of Engineers could come aboard and attempt to defuse the bombs. On the fourth attempt to defuse one of the bombs, a time-delay device detonated the weapon, killing Staff Sergeant James Prescott and severely injuring Warrant Officer Phillips, the other member of the EOD team. The ship was torn open from water line to funnel, with the blast starting major fires in both engine rooms which spread very quickly. The starboard fire main was fractured, the ship lost all electrical power, and the commanding officer, Commander Nick Tobin, gave the order to abandon ship. Tobin was the last person to leave the ship, and about five minutes after his departure, the missile magazines began exploding.
Explosions continued throughout the night, and the following day Antelope was found to be still afloat, but her keel had broken and her superstructure melted into a heap of twisted metal. Antelope broke in half and sank that day. TV and stills pictures of Antelope's demise became one of the defining images of the Falklands War and appear repeatedly in histories of the event.
On January 27, 2002, a diving team from HMS Montrose replaced the Naval Ensign on Antelope. The wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act.
As per Naval tradition, the first offspring born of the crew is given the honour of being christened on board. Mike Duncan Kenneth Hedges son of John and Margaret was born on 5 June 1974. His name was engraved on the ship's bell, which was on board the ship when she sank.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
