HMS Hermione (F58) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

HMS Hermione (F58) was a Leander-class

Leander class frigate

The Leander class, or Type 12I frigates, comprising twenty-six vessels, was among the most numerous and long-lived classes of frigate in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1959 and 1973...

frigate of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

(RN). She was, like the rest of her class, named after a figure of mythology

Hermione (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Hermione was the only daughter of Menelaus and Helen; however, some sources state that her mother also had a daughter, Iphigenia, by Theseus, as well as three younger sons, one by Menelaus, the others by Paris, prince of Troy.Hermione was nine when her mother left with Paris...

. Hermione was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons

Alexander Stephen and Sons

Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Govan in Glasgow, on the River Clyde.-History:...

, though she was completed by Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...

. She was launched on the 26th April 1967 and commissioned on the 11th July 1969.

In 1970, Hermione deployed to the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

and Pacific visiting a variety of places and performing a number of duties. Hermione became quite used to such warm climates during the 1970s. In 1977, Hermione, like many other Leanders, took part in the Fleet Review of the Royal Navy, in celebration of HM the Queen's

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

Silver Jubilee.

In January 1980, Hermione began her modernisation programme, which included the addition of the Sea Wolf missile

Sea Wolf missile

Sea Wolf is a naval guided missile system designed and built by BAC, later to become British Aerospace Dynamics . It is an automated point-defence weapon system designed as a final line of defence against both sea-skimming and high angle anti-ship missiles and aircraft...

and the Exocet

Exocet

The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...

anti-ship missile, which forced the removal of Hermione's twin 4.5 in guns. The modernisation was completed in 1983 at Chatham Naval Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

, and Hermione was the last ship to leave when the dockyard closed. Upon the completion of her modernisation, Hermione joined the 6th Frigate Squadron. Hermione saw much service in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, also being involved in the so-called 'Tanker War' during the Iran–Iraq War. In 1991, Hermione returned to the Middle East on an Armilla Patrol

Armilla patrol

The Armilla patrol is the British Royal Navy's permanent presence in the Persian Gulf.The Royal Navy withdrew its forces from the Persian Gulf in 1971 in line with the UK's general retreat from imperial commitments. However, tensions in the area remained high and Royal Navy ships were still a...

deployment, but just the following year Hermione was decommissioned and in 1997 she was sold to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

for scrap.

The ship also enjoyed fame on BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

TV, through starring as "HMS Hero

HMS Hero

Six Royal Navy ships have been called HMS Hero:, a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1759, a prison ship after 1793, renamed Rochester in 1800, and broken up 1810., a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1803 and wrecked on 25 December 1811, with the loss of all her crew, inside the northern Haaks about five...

" in the acclaimed drama series Warship
Warship (TV series)
Warship was a popular British television drama series produced by the BBC between 1973 and 1977. It was also dubbed into Dutch and broadcast in the Netherlands as Alle hens...

. All members of the crew were given "HMS Hero

HMS Hero

" cap tallies for filming purposes. The main ship used for filming was, however, HMS Phoebe

HMS Phoebe (F42)

HMS Phoebe was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . She was, like the rest of her class, named after a figure of mythology. Built by Vickers on the River Tyne, she was launched on the 19th December 1964 and commissioned on the 15th May 1966.In the year of her commission, Phoebe assisted in...

External links

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