HMS Juno (F52)

HMS "Juno" (F52) was a "Leander"-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). Like the rest of the class, "Juno" was named after a figure of mythology. She was built by Thornycroft of Woolston, Hampshire. "Juno" was launched on the 24th November 1965 and commissioned on the 18th July 1967.

"Juno" had a variety of sunny deployments from commissioning in 1967 that culminated in a 1969 world cruise, visiting a variety of ports in many diverse nations on the way and steaming many thousands of miles in the process. "Juno" was one of a number of Leanders that undertook the Beira Patrol, a deployment designed to stop oil reaching landlocked Rhodesia via the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. In 1976, "Juno" took part in the Third Cod War against Iceland during the fishing disputes with that country, and was, while on a Fishery Protection Patrol, rammed the Icelandic gunboat "Tyr", quite notorious in its aggression towards RN vessels. The ramming caused a minor fire. "Juno" made a second patrol, and was again confronted by the gunboat "Tyr" which was rammed by "Juno" yet again.

In 1980, "Juno" joined the Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), a NATO multi-national squadron, a role "Juno" was familiar with, having often deployed with NATO multi-national squadrons. The following year, "Juno", due to the 1981 Defence Review by the defence minister John Nott, was placed in Reserve when she joined the Standby Squadron. In 1985, "Juno" completed a four-year refit, which removed all her weapons and converted her into a navigational training ship. The following year "Juno", as the navigational training ship ironically grounded in the Solent, which forced "Juno" to receive repairs. In 1987, "Juno's" bit of bad luck continued when she collided with the Type-21 frigate HMS "Active". "Juno" decommissioned in November 1992. She was sold for scrap in 1994.