HMS Grafton (F80) | |
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![]() HMS Grafton (F80) | |
Career (UK) | ![]() |
Name: | HMS Grafton (F80) |
Operator: | Royal Navy |
Ordered: | January 1992 |
Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Laid down: | 13 May 1993 |
Launched: | 5 November 1994 |
Commissioned: | 29 May 1997 |
Decommissioned: | 31 March 2006 |
Fate: | Sold to Chile |
Career (Chile) | ![]() |
Name: | Almirante Lynch (FF-07) |
Operator: | Chilean Navy |
Commissioned: | 28 March 2007 |
Badge: |
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General characteristics | |
Class & type: | 'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate |
Displacement: | 4,900 tonnes |
Length: | 133 m (463 ft 3 in) |
Beam: | 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) |
Draught: | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
Propulsion: |
CODLAG (Combined Diesel-eLectric And Gas) 2 × Rolls-Royce Spey boost gas-turbines 4 × Paxman Valenta diesel engines 2 × GEC electric motors |
Speed: |
28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) on diesel-electric |
Range: | 7,800 nmi (14,400 km; 9,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement: | 185 |
Armament: |
2 × ASuW Harpoon quad launchers Seagnat and DFL3 decoy launchers |
Aircraft carried: | 1 × Lynx HMA8 helicopter |
HMS Grafton (F80) was a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. It was the ninth vessel to bear the name, and is named after the Duke of Grafton.
In 2003, the ship was used in the ITV drama series Making Waves as the fictional Royal Navy warship Suffolk. In early 2004 the ship was deployed in the Persian Gulf. In July 2004, it was announced that Grafton would be one of three Type 23 frigates to be decommissioned by the end of 2006. In June 2005, it was announced that Grafton would be sold to the Chilean Navy . She was delivered to Chilean Navy on 28 March 2007 in Portsmouth and renamed Almirante Lynch (FF-07).
During her service in the Royal Navy, her crew were awarded the freedom of the Borough of Ipswich, due to their frequent visits to the Suffolk town. On her last visit to Ipswich in 2006, the Ship's Bell was presented to the town as a permanent reminder of the links between HMS Grafton and Ipswich. The bell is now on display in the reception area of the Ipswich Borough Council offices at Grafton House, named for the connection to the warship.[1]

HMS Grafton after renaming as Almirante Lynch (FF-07) prior to delivery to the Chilean Navy
References[]
- ↑ Ipswich Borough Council, display at Grafton House, 15-17 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 9SA
The original article can be found at HMS Grafton (F80) and the edit history here.