HMS Zulu (F124) was a Tribal-class

Tribal class frigate

The Type 81, or Tribal class, was a class of seven general-purpose frigates for the Royal Navy designed during the 1950s that served throughout the 1960s and 1970s with limited service during the 1980s.-History:...

 frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 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...

. She was the third ship bearing the name of HMS Zulu

HMS Zulu

Three ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Zulu, after the African Zulu people:, a 1905 Tribal destroyer that served in World War I., launched in 1937, a 1936 Tribal-class destroyer that served in World War II., launched in 1962, a Tribal class frigate....

, having been named after an ethnic group located primarily in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Zulu 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:...

 of Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

. She was launched on the on 3 July 1962 and commissioned on the on 17 April 1964.

Zulu was the only Tribal built with Seacat missiles; her six sister frigates were built with two 40 mm Bofors guns and fitted with Seacat during later refits.

Operational history

In 1972, a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 P-3 Orion

P-3 Orion

The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...

 aircraft crashed on a mountain in northern Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. Zulu sent her Westland Wasp

Westland Wasp

The Westland Wasp was a British small first-generation, gas-turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and was based on the earlier piston-engined Saunders-Roe Skeeter...

 helicopter to the wreckage site, where the helicopter crew found five dead bodies. All fourteen of the aircraft's crew were killed. In 1974, Zulu deployed to the West Indies. In 1975, while in the western hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...

, Zulu patrolled the coast of Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

, which was at that time threatened by its neighbours, specifically Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, who had desires to annex a large amount of Belizean territory.

In 1977, Zulu took part in the last, at the time, Fleet Review of the Royal Navy. It took place in honour of Queen Elizabeth'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. Later that year, Zulu, along with her sister-ship , was part of the eight-ship Group 6 deployment, led by the cruiser , that deployed to the Far East, visiting a variety of ports in fly-the-flag visits, as well as performing naval exercises. Zulu returned home, along with the rest of the Group, in 1978, via the Mediterranean, where the group, minus Mohawk, which had suffered slight hull damage in an accident in Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, performed naval exercises before returning to the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

In 1979, Zulu was placed in Reserve, the Standby Squadron, and then placed on the disposal list in 1981. The following year, in response to the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

, Zulu was taken out of Reserve, so that she could fill in the gaps in Home Waters created by the many warships that had deployed to the South Atlantic to take part in the war. The following year, Zulu became the Gibraltar Guardship. In 1984, Zulu fired the last "full" broadside in the Royal Navy before being decommissioned and subsequently sold to Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

along with two of her sister-ships. Zulu was renamed Martha Kristina Tiyahahu, a female hero from Maluku, who fought against Dutch Colonials under Kapitan Pattimura's command. Martha Kristina Tiyahahu was struck from the Indonesian Naval Vessel Register in 1984 and currently awaits scrapping.