MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

HMS Sheffield became “Almirante Williams”

The Chilean Navy officially took possession this Friday of the decommissioned British frigate HMS Sheffield purchased to the United Kingdom and which will now be identified as “Almirante Williams”.

Chilean Ambassador in Britain Mariano Fernández and military officials from both countries were present at the ceremony that took place Friday morning at Davenport Naval Base, Plymouth.

Chilean and British officials did not disclose the sum involved in the transfer of the former HMS Sheffield that was decommissioned from the Royal Navy last November.

The missile equipped anti submarine Type 22 frigate was launched in 1986, accepted into naval service in March 1988 and commissioned in Hull July 1988. She also has a landing pad and a hangar for two Lynx MX8 helicopters.

She's the third Royal Navy vessel to bear the name, and her battle honours include the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941 and the Falklands conflict in 1982.

Actually she's the successor of the 4,200 tons Class 42 destroyer that was sunk by the Argentines with a French built Exocet missile in May 1982 during the South Atlantic conflict.

Under the Chilean flag, "Almirante Williams" honours Admiral Juan Williams Rebolledo, Commander of the Chilean Navy in the late XIX century and who fought gallantly against Peru and Bolivia in the "Pacific War" of 1879.

The Chilean crew will undergo several weeks of training in Britain before the "Almirante Williams" heads for her new home in Chile.