HMS Exeter (D89)
HMS Exeter in the River Thames, sailing downstream past Limehouse, London.
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Exeter |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
| Laid down: | 22 July 1976 |
| Launched: | 25 April 1978 |
| Sponsored by: | Lady Joan Mulley |
| Commissioned: | 19 September 1980 |
| Decommissioned: | 27 May 2009 |
| Homeport: | Portsmouth |
| Identification: | Pennant number: D89 |
| Motto: | Semper Fidelis ("Always faithful") |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type 42 destroyer |
| Displacement: | 4,820 tonnes |
| Length: | 125 metres (410 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.3 metres (47 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 28.7 knots (53.2 km/h; 33.0 mph) |
| Complement: | 287 |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | Lynx HMA8 |
HMS Exeter was a Type 42 destroyer, the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to be named Exeter, after the city of Exeter in Devon. the vessel fought in the Falklands War and the first Gulf War. The ship was disposed of for scrap in 2009.
Exeter was the first of the slightly modified 'Batch 2' Type 42 destroyers. This was a mid-build consideration with her later sister ship, Southampton, sporting a similar weapons and sensors upgrade with no discernible hull modifications. The weapons and sensors fit was the first grouping of the 1022, 992Q and 1006 radars in a British warship.
The ship was built by Swan Hunter, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 19 September 1980. In 1981 London, fired the last Mk 1 Sea Slug missiles to allow Exeter's new radars to fully integrate and align the far superior Sea Dart missile against, high and low missile targets.
Early in her first commission, Exeter had a turquoise hull on and below the waterline; this was an experimental co-polymer paint which was only available in a few non-standard colours at the time. The light-blue 'boot topping' visible on the waterline was eventually repainted to standard brick red/black during her first docking period, after the Falklands War.
The ship saw service in the Falklands War, deploying from the Caribbean after the loss of Sheffield. During the conflict, Exeter shot down three Argentine aircraft (two A-4C Skyhawks on 30 May, and a Learjet 35A on 7 June: all with Sea Dart missiles). She may also have shot down an Exocet missile on 30 May, the original 1982 claim that it was taken by a 4.5-inch shell from a Type 21 frigate appearing oversold.
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Wikipedia