HMS Glasgow (D88)

HMS "Glasgow" (D88) is a Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built at Swan Hunter Shipyard in Wallsend, Tyneside and launched on 14 April 1976 by Lady Kirstie Treacher, wife of Admiral Sir John Treacher. With a displacement of 4,820 tonnes, "Glasgow" is the 6th and last Batch 1 Type 42 Destroyer in the Fleet. Named after the Scottish city of Glasgow she is the eighth ship to bear the name. On 23 September 1976, while being fitted out, a fire on board killed eight men and injured a further 6.

"Glasgow" was among five Type 42 destroyers sent as part of the Task Force sent to retake the Falkland Islands after invasion by Argentina in 1982. Armed with Sea Dart anti-aircraft missile system, "Glasgow" along with its sister ships, "Sheffield" and "Coventry" were among the first ships to arrive in a 200 nautical mile (370 km) exclusion zone imposed by the British around the islands.

"Glasgow" saw early action in the war when on 2 May her Lynx helicopter badly damaged the Argentine naval vessel "Alferez Sobral". On 3 May, "Glasgow" detected an Exocet missile fired at the Task Force and warned the fleet. However "Sheffield" failed to receive the warning and was hit, later sinking. Down to two Type 42s ("Exeter" and "Cardiff" would not arrive until the end of May), "Glasgow" and "Coventry" were left to long range defence of the fleet.

However on 12 May, "Glasgow" alongside HMS "Brilliant" were on a "42-22" combo whereby "Glasgow's" Sea Dart long range missiles would complement "Brilliant's" short range Sea Wolf missiles on anti-aircraft attacks. The ships attracted the attention of the Argentine Air Force when a wave of Skyhawk jets attacked. Although "Glasgow's" Sea Dart system failed, "Brilliant's" Sea Wolf shot down three jets. When a second wave of Skyhawks attacked, Sea Wolf also failed and the jets released three bombs, one of which damaged "Glasgow", although it did not explode.

The damage inflicted on "Glasgow" was severe enough for the destroyer to head back to England for repairs, the first ship of the war to return.

In later years, "Glasgow" served on a variety of missions, including service in East Timor. In early 2004 the ship was deployed on the Atlantic Patrol South tasking.

It was announced in July 2004, as part of the "Delivering Security in a Changing World" review, that "Glasgow" would be decommissioned in January 2005. "Glasgow" was finally decommissioned on the 1 February 2005.