HMS Exeter (D89)

HMS Exeter was a Type 42 destroyer, the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to be named Exeter, after the city of Exeter in Devon.

Design and construction
Exeter was the first of the slightly modified 'Batch 2' Type 42 destroyers. This was a mid-build consideration with her later sister ship, HMS Southampton (D90), sporting a similar weapons and sensors upgrade with no discernible hull modifications. The weapons and sensors fit was the first grouping of the 1022, 992Q and 1006 radars in a British warship.

The ship was built by Swan Hunter, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 19 September 1980.

Early in her first commission, Exeter had a turquoise hull on and below the waterline; this was an experimental co-polymer paint which was only available in a few non-standard colours at the time. The light-blue 'boot topping' visible on the waterline was eventually repainted to standard brick red/black during her first docking period, after the Falklands War.

Operational history
The ship saw service in the Falklands War, deploying from the Caribbean after the loss of HMS Sheffield (D80). During the conflict, Exeter shot down three Argentine aircraft (two A-4C Skyhawks on 30 May, and a Learjet 35A on 7 June: all with Sea Dart missiles), and may have shot down an Exocet missile on 30 May (although this kill is claimed by another ship).

Exeter also served in Operation Granby during the 1991 Gulf War, under the command of Captain Nigel Essenhigh. Among her roles was the air defence of the US battleships bombarding enemy positions.

She attended the 25th anniversary commemorations of the Falklands War at Newquay, Cornwall in 2007, as the last remaining Royal Navy ship in commission to have served in the Falklands.

On 30 July 2008, she was placed in a state of 'extended readiness' at HMNB Portsmouth, until being decommissioned there on 27 May 2009. In early 2010, Exeter was in use as a training hulk to assist with the training of new naval base tugs. She was put up for sale by auction on 28 March 2011 and finally towed away to be scrapped at Leyal Ship Recycling in Turkey on 23 September 2011, provoking some criticism from former crew members who were upset that the Ministry of Defence had apparently failed to inform them of the ship's fate.

Commanding Officers
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left" !From||To|||Captain
 * 1980||1984|||Commander [ [ Christopher Clay]] RN
 * 1989||1991|||Captain Nigel Essenhigh RN
 * 2000||2002|||Commander Chris Richards RN
 * 1989||1991|||Captain Nigel Essenhigh RN
 * 2000||2002|||Commander Chris Richards RN
 * 2000||2002|||Commander Chris Richards RN

Affiliations

 * The Rifles
 * Exeter College, Oxford
 * Worshipful Company of Plaisterers