HMS Birmingham (D86)

HMS Birmingham was a Type 42 destroyer laid down by Cammell Laird and Company, Limited, at Birkenhead on 28 March 1972, launched on 30 July 1973 by Lady Empson, wife of Sir Derek Empson and commissioned on 3 December 1976. She was named for the city of Birmingham, England.

"The Brum" spent much of her useful life as Fleet Contingency Ship and spent considerable time in the post-Falklands conflict patrol role. In 1984 she patrolled the Falklands and acted as a radar picket ship along with HMS Broadsword (F88) and HMS Ajax (F114). In 1985 she took part in Standing Naval Force Mediterranean, calling at Gibraltar, Palma de Mallorca, Naples, & Messina. On completion of de-ammunitioning at Rosyth and being sent for a successful refit at Rosyth dockyard, she returned to Portsmouth in 1988 for sea trials and re-acceptance to the fleet. Commanded by Roy Clare, now Director of the Maritime Museum in London, her first deployment post-refit was a tour to the Persian Gulf region, returning in March 1989.

Birmingham paid off at Portsmouth on 10 December 1999. In early January 2000, and under her own power, she sailed to Devonport where, for the next two months, she was stripped of all her usable equipment. She was eventually towed back to Portsmouth in May 2000 where she was sold for scrap and left Portsmouth under tow for Spain on 20 October 2000.