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| History | |
|---|---|
 UK | |
| Name | HMS Chatham |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| Builder | Swan Hunter |
| Laid down | 12 May 1986 |
| Launched | 20 January 1988 |
| Sponsored by | Lady Oswald |
| Commissioned | 4 May 1990 |
| Homeport | HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |
| Identification | list error: <br /> list (help) Pennant number: F87 International callsign: GABL |
| Motto | list error: <br /> list (help) "Up and at 'em" Latin: Surge et vince |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type 22 frigate |
| Displacement | 5,300 tons |
| Length | 148.1 m (486 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 14.8 m (48 ft 6 in) |
| Draught | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × Rolls-Royce Spey gas turbines (high speed) 2 × Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines (cruising) 2 shafts driving variable pitch propellers with COGAG (Combined gas and gas) gearbox, allowing all four engines to provide power to the drive train. |
| Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 18 knots (33 km/h) cruise 30 knots (56 km/h) maximum |
| Complement | 250 (max. 301) |
| Armament | list error: mixed text and list (help)
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| Aircraft carried | list error: mixed text and list (help) 2 x Lynx Mk.8 helicopters (but only 1 Lynx in peace time). Armed with |
HMS Chatham (F87) is a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She has the rare honour of a motto in English; Up and at 'em being the rallying cry of the Medway town football and rugby teams. The motto has subsequently been translated back into Latin as Surge et vince.
History
She was guardship to the MAN Royal Yacht Britannia when she withdrew from Hong Kong in 1997 (and served as the control military operations in the months prior to the handover). In May 2000, Chatham was part of the Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) sent to the coast of Sierra Leone to oversee the evacuation of British, EU and Commonwealth nationals as part of Operation Palliser, under the captaincy of George Zambellas.
In March 2003 Chatham became the first British warship to fire her guns in anger as part of Operation Telic when she engaged targets on the Al-Faw Peninsula of southern Iraq. Approximately 60 rounds were fired at a variety of targets from her 4.5" gun. In company with HMAS Anzac she remained on station for the following 72 hours at immediate readiness to provide fire support to the troops of the Royal Marines as they advanced up the peninsula.
Chatham deployed from the UK to the Persian Gulf in January and returned in August. During the deployment, in the run up to and the conduct of the invasion of Iraq the ship spent around 90 days at sea continuously in defence watches in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. At times she came very close to hitting mines laid by Iraqi dhows and tugs in the shallow waters to be found in the area.
Chatham hosted the BBC for the television programme Shipmates which charted the life of ordinary sailors in the Royal Navy. In the program Chatham was filmed on active service in the Persian Gulf, whilst on an anti-terrorist mission. The show also covered the Chatham's humanitarian relief efforts off the coast of Sri Lanka after the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004.
On 18 April 2005, Chatham sent a party ashore at Alexandria in Egypt to provide a burial for the recently-uncovered remains of thirty British sailors and officers who had died during or after the Battle of the Nile in 1798.
On 31 October 2006, she visited the town of Chatham, Massachusetts, on her way to Boston.
In 2008 Chatham seized 6 of the 23-tonne narcotic haul seized by the Royal Navy between January and August 2008. As of March 2010, she was the NATO flagship for international naval operations against Somali piracy. On May 17th 2010, the Chatham destroyed two pirate boats in the Somali Basin, forcing the pirates to return in the mother ship to Somalia.
Affiliations
Chatham is affiliated to a number of military and civil bodies:
Ship's Sponsor: Lady Oswald
- 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps
- Medway Council
- Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
- Chatham Dockyard Historic Trust
- Chatham Dockyard Historic Society
- Royal Naval Association, Chatham
- TS Cornwallis (Medway Town Sea Cadet Unit)
- TS Anson (Dartford and Crayford Sea Cadet Unit)
- TS Sirius (Hayes, Harlington and Southall Sea Cadet Unit)
- 5th Littlehampton Sea Scouts
- 5th Medway Scouts
- King's School Rochester CCF Unit
- Prior Park School (Bath) CCF Unit
References
- "Royal Navy Bridge Card, February 2009" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- http://website.lineone.net/~david-carrington/Militaria/RoyalNavy/Major.htm
- ^ "Ship background - HMS Chatham at Navy News". Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- "BBC Website - Shipmates". Retrieved 2006-10-25.
- Smith, Tannalee. "30 Members of British Fleet Reburied". Associated Press, 18 April 2005.
- "Nato warship destroys pirate boats in Somali Basin". BBC. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
- "HMS Chatham affiliations - Royal Navy Website". Retrieved 2009-06-20.
External links
| Type 22 frigates | |
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 Royal Navy | |
 Brazilian Navy |
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 Chilean Navy |
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 Romanian Naval Forces |
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