HMS Nottingham (D91)
HMS Nottingham
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Nottingham |
| Ordered: | 1 March 1977 |
| Builder: | Vosper Thorneycroft, Woolston yard |
| Laid down: | 6 February 1978 |
| Launched: | 18 February 1980 |
| Sponsored by: | Lady Leach (wife of the then First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Henry Leach) |
| Commissioned: | 14 April 1983 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 February 2010 |
| Homeport: | HMNB Portsmouth, Hampshire |
| Identification: | Pennant number: D91 |
| Motto: | Foy pour devoir (French: "Faith for Duty") |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type 42 destroyer |
| Displacement: | 4,820 tonnes |
| Length: | 125 m (410 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.3 m (47 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.8 m (19 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement: | 271 (27 officers, 71 senior rates, 173 junior rates) |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | Westland Lynx HMA8 |
HMS Nottingham was a batch two Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after the city of Nottingham, England. She was launched on 18 February 1980, and commissioned on 8 April 1983 as the sixth ship to bear the name.
Her commanding officer at commissioning was Commander Nigel Essenhigh (in his first major command role) who went on to become First Sea Lord.
On her first cruise to Oporto, Portugal and then Gibraltar the destroyer lost two sailors to a drowning incident while on shore leave visiting a beach in Oporto.
In November 2000, Nottingham completed a major refit, which was intended to extend her operational life to 2012, although she was later placed in reserve and decommissioned on 11 February 2010.
On 7 July 2002, Nottingham ran aground on the submerged but well-charted Wolf Rock near Lord Howe Island, 370 miles (600 km) off the coast of Australia. A 160 feet (49 m) hole was torn down the side of the vessel from bow to bridge, flooding five of her compartments and nearly causing her to sink. A major PR crisis for the Royal Navy, the incident was initially PR managed by Commander David Heley (who looked after the UK and New Zealand media) and Lieutenant Commander Steve Tatham (who provided daily commentary to Australian media) before a team was despatched to Australia to assist the ship.
The accident happened in poor weather after a set of manoeuvres to allow a sailor with an emergency medical condition to be evacuated to Lord Howe Island. The captain Commander Richard Farrington was not on the ship at the time of the incident with XO Lt Commander John Lee in-charge of the vessel. Commander Farrington was ashore having dinner with the island's marine services manager thanking him for the assistance rendered to his crewman.
Nottingham ran aground on Wolf Rock due to a navigational error and the vessel immediately went into damage control mode. Commander Farrington was radioed and returned to the vessel immediately whereby he took command and controlled the breached compartments.
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Wikipedia