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HMS Cornwall (F99)

1988 COLD WAR

HMS Cornwall (F99) History

The Type 22 Combat Frigate class represents a total of 14 ships of the Royal Navy (RN). The engagement proved to be the service's largest since the end of World War II (1939-1945) and provided the service with a strong surface combatant over its decades of service.

Under the banners of Brazil, Chile and Romania, the course has a longer lifespan, while RN all but abandons the series. Five original battleships are still in service.

The class (designed to succeed the aging "Leander-class" ships) is produced in three different "batches", referred to simply as "Charge 1", "Charge 2" and "Charge 3", and the role is to escort the fleet The design. The first batch of "Broadsword" included four first ships of this class, all of which were eventually sold to the Brazilian Navy after their RN service period ended.

This was followed by a second batch of "Boxers" with six towed 2031Z sonar arrays. Batch 3 Cornwall was the last group to form four of their own ships, largely borrowing from the boxer group's final form, but with internal improvements to make them more refined fighting machines.

The Royal Navy's losses in the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982 were ordered as Type 3 ships.

These include the HMS Cornwall (F99), which was the first "batch 3" ship to appear and also happens to be the last ship to be decommissioned. Her sisters included HMS Cumberland, HMS Cambeltown and HMS Chatham, who served between 1988 and 1990.

HMS Cornwall was built by specialists at Yarrow Shipbuilders, laid on 14th December 1983. She was launched on 14 October 1985 (sponsored by Diana, Prince of Wales) and officially commissioned on 23 April 1988.

During her time at sea, the warship was brought home from HMNB Devonport in Plymouth and at "Unus et Omnes" ("One and All"). She is known to her crew by various nicknames "Ice Cream Corvette" and "Battle 99".

At the time of construction, the ship displaces 5,300 tons, has a barrel length of 485.10 feet, a beam length of 48.6 feet, and a draft of up to 21 feet.

Power comes from 2 x Rolls-Royce "Spey" gas turbines combined with 2 x Rolls-Royce "Tyne" gas turbines in a combined gas and gas (COGAG) configuration, with Spey turbines for high-speed operations, Tyne units Reserved for general cruising. All in all, warships (under ideal conditions) can move forward at up to 30 knots of pressure.

A typical cruise reaches about 18 knots.

There are 250 crew members on board, but may increase to more than 300 in time of war. Sensors and systems include the Type 1007 Navigation Radar and the Type 967 and 968 Surveillance Radar packages.

Dual Type 911 Seawolf radars serve the tracking role, while the active sonar arrays are Type 2050 units. The CACS-5 Combat Data System (CDS) is new to the Type 22 and has been found in the Cornish portfolio from the start (successor to the original CACS-1 kits of the first and second batches).

The weapon is a mix of conventional and missile-guided weapons, commanded by a single-barreled 4.5" (114 mm) Mk. 8 deck gun with a turret in the forecourt (this gun was in the 1st and 2nd batches The core of the armor kit is dual "Seawolf" anti-aircraft missile launchers with 72 reloads and dual 4-cell "Harpoon" anti-aircraft missile launchers for a total of 8 launches, equipped with 2 triple torpedo launches Tubes were a threat both above and below the repelling water, the 2 x 20mm GAM-B01 guns used for extreme close-range defensive work (at the time) provided additional accurate fire on air targets.

In addition to basic armament, Cornwall actively employs two Westland Lynx Mk. 8 naval helicopters, equipped for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-ship missions. These include support for Sting Ray torpedoes and Sea Skua missiles, as well as Mk.

11 series depth charges and 2 machine guns (for close boarding/suppression).

As an escort, Cornwall's primary role was to deter and pursue enemy warships and submarines in the airspace. As such, it has a wide range of weapon designs to deal with as many threats as possible at different distances and heights/depths, whether in the air, above or below the water.

In service, HMS Cornwall was the flagship of the 2nd Frigate Squadron at Devonport. After the squadron was disbanded in 1993, the ship was dispatched to patrol and friendly ports in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Baltic, Persian Gulf and Far East regions. In the mid-1990s, the ship was designated as the flagship of NATO's permanent naval force in the Atlantic. In 2001, after 9/11, she participated in the coalition invasion of Afghanistan.

In 2011, the warship was involved in the rescue of five Yemenis held by 17 Somali pirates.

On 30 June 2011, her sailing day ended, HMS Cornwall was decommissioned and towed to HMNB Portsmouth. In July 2013, she and her three sisters were sold as scrap, marking the end of the mighty Royal Navy ship.