HMS Dido (F104)

History

United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Dido
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down:	2 December 1959
Launched:	22 December 1961
Commissioned:	18 September 1963
Identification:	pennant number: F 104
Fate:	Sold to New Zealand.
New Zealand
Name:	HMNZS Southland
Commissioned:	18 July 1983
Decommissioned:	March 1995
Fate:	Scrapped at Goa
General characteristics
Class and type:	Leander-class frigate
Displacement:	2,450 tons standard 3,200 tons full load
Length:	372 ft (113 m)
Beam:	41 ft (12 m)
Draught:	19 ft (6 m)
Propulsion:	Two Babcock & Wilcox boilers delivering steam to two sets of White/English Electric geared turbines of 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) on two shafts
Speed:	28 knots (52 km/h)
Range:	4,600 nautical miles (8,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:	18 officers and 248 sailors
Sensors and processing systems:	1 × Type 994 air/surface search radar 1 × Type 1006 navigation radar 2 × Type 903/904 fire-control radars 1 × Type 184P active search and attack sonar 1 × Type 2031Z passive search towed array sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	CAAIS (Computer Assisted Action Information System) combat information system, ESM system with UAA-8/9 warning and Type 668/669 jamming elements.
Armament:	2 × 4.5-inch (110 mm) L45 DP guns in one Mk 6 twin mounting; later replaced by one Ikara ASW missile launcher in circular well forward 2 × quadruple Sea Cat anti-air missile launchers 2 × 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors guns 2 × Mk 32 triple 12.75-inch (324 mm) mountings for Mk46 or Stingray torpedoes
Aircraft carried:	1 × Wasp, later Lynx helicopter

HMS Dido was a Royal Navy (RN) Leander-class frigate. Entering service in 1961, Dido was involved in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, served with NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic on several occasions, and was one of the frigates used for the filming of the drama series Warship.

Following a defence review at the start of the 1980s, the ship was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), and was recommissioned as HMNZS Southland. Southland remained in service until 1995. After decommissioning, the frigate was towed to the Philippines, where her boilers were removed, then to India for scrapping.

Dido was built by Yarrow of Glasgow. She was laid down as a Rothesay-class frigate to be called Hastings on 2 December 1959, but in 1960, it was decided to complete the ship as one of the new Leander class, with the new name Dido. The naming ceremony for Dido took place on 21 December 1961, but her launch was delayed until the next day because of fog.Dido was commissioned on 18 September 1963. Total construction cost was £4600000

The ship was 372 feet (113.4 m) long overall and 360 feet (109.7 m) at the waterline, with a beam of 41 feet (12.5 m) and a maximum draught of 18 feet (5.5 m). Displacement was 2,380 long tons (2,420 t) standard and 2,860 long tons (2,910 t) full load. Two oil-fired boilers fed steam at 550 pounds per square inch (3,800 kPa) and 850 °F (454 °C) to a pair of double reduction geared steam turbines that in turn drove two propeller shafts, with the machinery rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), giving a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph).

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