MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

HMS Leeds Castle: years keeping Falklands safe

Displacing little over 1,400 tonnes fully loaded, HMS Leeds Castle has spent much of her Royal Navy service in great waters thousands of miles from the United Kingdom.

One of a rare breed ? as only two of the class exist ? Leeds Castle with her sister-ship Dumbarton Castle are among a dwindling number of Falklands War veterans remaining in service with the Royal Navy.

The ships' association with the Falklands did not end with the war in 1982: for over ten years the two Castle-class vessels have taken it in turns to provide a "resident" presence in the islands, remaining on station there for three years at a time with regular rotation of their ships' companies.

The vessels, completed in the early 1980s by Hall Russell at Aberdeen, were designed as offshore patrol vessels. Specifically their roles included protection of the North Sea oil and gas installations and fishery protection, their versatility being enhanced by their most characteristic feature ? a large flight deck over one-third the ship's length and capable of landing Sea King helicopters. Each of them also has temporary accommodation for up to 25 Royal Marines.

HMS Leeds Castle was launched in October 1980 by Peggy Speed, wife of the then Navy Minister. She was commission a year later, and so was a very new ship when she was deployed in the role of dispatch vessel with the Falklands Task Force.

She proved to be a valuable workhorse, tirelessly transferring stores and mail to and from the larger warships and support vessels. At one point she found herself in the rescue role when her sea boat plucked the crew of a ditched Sea King from the icy waters, as well as the four-man crew of a capsized craft from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Grange which was involved in an unsuccessful effort to attach a line to the floating helicopter.

So successful were the two Castle ships during the conflict that they were later chosen to provide longer-term support for the British garrisons on the Falklands and the island of South Georgia.

Leeds Castle spent three years on station from 1995, sailing into hurricane-force winds and the region's worst winter on record. In 1998 she was relieved by Dumbarton Castle and returned for a refit followed by service as a member of the Fishery Protection Squadron.

In 2001 it was again her turn to provide the Falklands presence ?for the last time in her case. She returned to the UK in November last year.

HMS Leeds Castle has a complement of 45. She is equipped with surface-search and navigation radars and is armed with a 30mm BMARC gun.

She is affiliated to the town of Hastings and to Leeds Castle in Kent. There has been only one other Leeds Castle in Royal Navy service ? a Castle-class corvette completed in February 1944. She was employed as an escort for Atlantic convoys until September that year when she was redeployed to the Gibraltar convoy routes, finally conducting anti-submarine sweeps in the Irish Sea.

After the war Leeds Castle was allocated to anti-submarine training duties in Portsmouth, and was re-designated a frigate in 1947. She continued to serve in the training role, latterly from Portland, until 1956 when she paid off and was sold for scrap.

She was one of the smallest of the Royal Navy's frigates and was in continuous service for 12 years ? an unusually long time for a ship of her kind. Her sole Battle Honour ? "Atlantic 1944" ? was complemented by the Battle Honour "South Atlantic 1982" awarded to today's ship. (RN).