HMS St Albans (F83)

HMS St Albans is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the sixth ship to bear the name and is the sixteenth and final ship in the 'Duke' class of frigates. She is based in Portsmouth.

Operational history
The ship was launched on the River Clyde on Saturday 6 May 2000. She was built at BAE Systems' Yarrows Yard in Scotstoun, Glasgow.

On 27 October 2002, before she had even entered operational service, St Albans was struck by the P&O ferry Pride of Portsmouth when gale force winds pushed the ferry into the ship whilst secure on her berth in Portsmouth. St Albans suffered damage to the gun deck, the sea boat supports (davits) and the bridge wing. However, no members of the crew were injured.

In 2004, Commander Steve Dainton RN took command and the ship was deployed on Operation Oracle duties in the Arabian Sea.

In July 2004 the crew were granted Freedom of the City by the Mayor of St Albans.

On 13 February 2006, St Albans departed on a six-month deployment to the Gulf region. She arrived in the region in early April, where her tasks included protecting Iraqi oil platforms as well as patrol duties in the northern Gulf. During the trip, she provided a diplomatic role by visiting 16 countries, including Algeria, Albania, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Lebanon (before the 2006 conflict with Israel).

Evacuation of British citizens from Lebanon
As of the 12 July 2006, the ship had completed her tour in the Gulf and had begun her long journey back to Portsmouth. However, on the same day, the conflict between Israel and Lebanon began. As a result, it was announced on Monday 17 July by The Ministry of Defence that St Albans, which was on a route that would take it through the eastern Mediterranean (via the Suez canal), had been redeployed to assist in the evacuation of British citizens trapped in Lebanon (Operation Highbrow). She arrived in the area on Thursday 20 July and on Friday 21 July she picked up 243 evacuees from the dock in Beirut and safely transported them to Cyprus. After completing her role in the evacuation, she remained on operational stand-by in the vicinity of Beirut for a short time before being ordered to return home, their original aim. The ship finally arrived back in Portsmouth on 18 August 2006.

After the tour
Following the ship's successful 6-month tour, St Albans underwent maintenance. During this time, the ship received a new commanding officer, Commander Mark Newland RN. He took over from Commander Steve Dainton RN, commanding officer for the previous two years. The ship stayed in British waters, participated in submarine training in the Irish Sea, weapon training off the south coast and visited Glasgow on 11 November 2006 to take part in Remembrance Sunday events. From 5 January until 15 January 2007 the ship was open to the public as part of the London Boat Show. Following this, the ship conducted various training exercises and engineering trials in the UK. The ships crew then went on Easter leave before returning to conduct more training activities.

Maintenance
In May 2007, St Albans entered a period of maintenance that lasted over a year. The maintenance programme took place in dry dock, situated in Rosyth. Many systems were overhauled and replaced and the ship's crew temporarily re-assigned to other vessels while the ship underwent work. A skeleton crew of engineers supervised the work for the year. Included in the maintenance was the installation of a new Type 2087 sonar system and a conversion to allow the operation of Merlin helicopters, making the ship one of the Fleet’s most advanced frigates.

The upgrade took 15 months and cost £15 million. The ship then returned to its home port of Portsmouth and was accepted back into the fleet in July 2008. The ship was then put through various equipment tests & training routines throughout the later part of the year.

2009-2011
St Albans left Portsmouth on 19 January 2009 to conduct maritime security patrols in the Mediterranean. The ship joined a NATO Task Group in the Mediterranean and will be protecting busy shipping trade routes. St Albans was also a part of the NATO Response Force (NRF), capable of being deployed anywhere that NATO decides at short notice. The ship also visited ports in Majorca, Italy and Egypt whilst in the region. She arrived on the Clyde on 7 May 2009 at 1500hrs, heading for Faslane.

St Albans was deployed in the Gulf until mid-2010. She left Portsmouth on 1000hrs on Monday 1 February. Her deployment included supporting international efforts in "tackling piracy, illegal trafficking, and smuggling."

Later in the deployment St Albans helped the Iraqi government "protect their oil platforms, and provide security to ensure regional stability".

In July 2010 after completing her tour in the Middle East, she visited Grand Harbour, Malta for four days on her way back to the United Kingdom.

The warship helped in the recovery of a diver who had got into difficulties near Salcombe on 26 March 2011, although the diver was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

On 1 July 2011, St Albans rescued 13 sailors of the coast of Oman from the stricken tanker MV Pavit, which had spent three days drifting in a heavy storm after losing power. St Albans used her Merlin helicopter embarked from 829 Naval Air Squadron to winch the crew to safety. The rescued sailors were later transferred to their sister ship, the MV Jag Pushpa. After operating in the Middle East conducting counter-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, having relieved the frigate HMS Iron Duke, she returned to Portsmouth, via Malta and Lisbon, in December 2011.

2012
In March 2012, HMS St Albans visited the Pool of London where she entertained a number of her affiliate organisations and other guests before returning to her home port of Portsmouth to conduct exercises in the Western Approaches. In May, she visited Iceland, where her the captain Cdr Tom Sharpe and Britain’s Ambassador to Iceland Ian Whitting cast a wreath into Hvalfjörður – once a vital staging point for the Arctic Convoys to the Soviet Union. Over 1½ million people saw the ship's return to Portsmouth as part of world’s largest harbour festival. The frigate sailed up the Elbe to Hamburg to take part in the port's 823rd birthday celebrations. In June, St Albans visited the home of the German Navy in Kiel, joining in the huge maritime event attended by 50 countries, 2000 yachts and pleasure craft and more than 5,000 yachtsmen and women. Before joining in the celebrations, members of the ship’s company including Commanding Officer Commander Tom Sharpe OBE RN, two platoons and the ship’s guard headed to a remembrance service and wreath laying at the Commonwealth Cemetery at Nordfriedhof.

2013
Under her new commanding officer, Commander Andrew Block RN, HMS St Albans continued her home duties visiting the Channel Islands and Holyhead with an extended tour visiting Stavanger, Oslo and Amsterdam. During this deployment she was the last ship to fire the Royal Navy's 4.5" Mk.8 Mod 0 gun off Stavanger. In May 2013 she was handed over to BAe Systems for her refit in Portsmouth Harbour, her home port, silently coached into C lock. She will spend a year in dock to be modernised for another 10 years.

Over the past two years over 120 Marketors have visited HMS St Albans.

Affiliations

 * The Royal Anglian Regiment
 * RAF Marham
 * City of St Albans
 * Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
 * Worshipful Company of Marketors