- HMS Chatham (F87)
HMS "Chatham" (F87) is a
Type 22 frigate of theRoyal Navy . She was guardship to theRoyal Yacht "Britannia" when she withdrew fromHong Kong . In May 2000, under "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 ofOperation Palliser , under the captaincy ofGeorge Zambellas .In March 2003 HMS "Chatham" became the first British warship to fire her guns in anger as part of
Operation Iraqi Freedom when she engaged targets on theAl-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.HMS "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.
HMS "Chatham" also 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 thePersian Gulf , whilst on an anti-terrorist mission. The show also covered the "Chatham"'s humanitarian relief efforts off the coast ofSri Lanka after the devastatingIndian Ocean Tsunami in December2004 . [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2005/11/15/shipmates_feature.shtml |title=BBC Website - Shipmates |accessdate=2006-10-25]On
April 18 ,2005 , HMS "Chatham" sent a party ashore atAlexandria inEgypt to provide a burial for the recently-uncovered remains of thirty British sailors and officers who had died during or after theBattle of the Nile in1798 . [Smith, Tannalee. "30 Members of British Fleet Reburied". Associated Press, April 18, 2005.]On October 31, 2006, she visited the town of
Chatham, Massachusetts , on her way to Boston.In March 2007, she was docked at St. Mary's Island, Chatham, as part of a recruitment drive to encourage local people to join the Navy.
As of 2008 she is on a 8 month deployment to the Iraqi gulf for peacekeeping missions.Fact|date=September 2008
Affiliations
*3 Regiment, Army Air Corps
*Medway Council
*Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
*Chatham Dockyard Historic Trust
*Medway Towns Sea Cadet Corps - TS Cornwallis References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.