HMS Leander (F109)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Leander (F109) |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Harland and Wolff |
| Laid down: | 10 April 1959 |
| Launched: | 28 June 1961 |
| Commissioned: | 27 March 1963 |
| Decommissioned: | April 1987 |
| Motto: | Qui patitur vincit |
| Fate: | Sunk as target 1989 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Leander-class frigate |
HMS Leander (F109) was the nameship of the Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was originally intended to be part of the Rothesay class and would have been known as Weymouth. Leander was, like the rest of the class, named after a figure of mythology. She was built by the famous Harland & Wolff of Belfast and was launched on 28 June 1961. She was commissioned on 27 March 1963.
Upon her commissioning, Leander deployed to the West Indies, performing a variety of duties while there. She returned to the UK in April 1964. In 1965, Leander was part of Matchmaker I, a multi-national squadron of NATO, and the predecessor of Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), which was created in 1967, although it was not actually formed until the following year. In 1966, Leander deployed to the Pacific and in 1967 she deployed back to the West Indies and subsequently to the Persian Gulf.
In 1970, Leander joined the NATO multi-national squadron STANAVFORLANT. In June that year, Leander began modernisation that included the removal of her one twin 4.5-in gun which was replaced by the Ikara anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missile launcher. The work was completed in December 1972. In 1974, she joined the 3rd Frigate Squadron, which included other Leander-class frigates. That same year, as part of that squadron, Leander took part in Task Group (TG) 317.2, a deployment that caused some controversy back in the UK when the TG, on its way to the Far East/Pacific, visited South Africa, which was at that time under apartheid rule. As well as visiting two ports in South Africa, the TG performed military exercises with the South African armed forces, which caused uproar in some parts of the governing Labour Party, as well as gaining much press coverage.
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