| HMS Coventry (F98) | |
|---|---|
 HMS Coventry | |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Coventry |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter |
| Laid down: | 29 March 1984 |
| Launched: | 8 April 1986 |
| Commissioned: | 14 October 1988 |
| Decommissioned: | 17 January 2002 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: F98 |
| Fate: | Sold to Romania on 14 January 2003 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,800 tons |
| Length: | 146.5 m (480 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.8 m (48 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
2-shaft COGOG 2 × Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B high-speed gas turbines (54,000 shp / 40 MW) 2 × Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1C cruise gas turbines (9,700 shp / 7.2 MW) |
| Speed: |
18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (cruise) 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max) |
| Range: | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) |
| Complement: | 273 |
| Armament: |
2 × 6 GWS25 Sea Wolf SAM launchers 4 × 1 Exocet SSM launchers 2 × Twin 30 mm AA guns 2 × 20 mm GAM-BO1 guns 4 × 7.62 mm GPMGs |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × Lynx MK 8 helicopters |
| Career (Romania) |   |
| Name: | Regele Ferdinand |
| Namesake: | king Ferdinand of Romania |
| Laid down: | 29 March 1984 |
| Launched: | 8 April 1986 |
| Acquired: | 14 January 2003 |
| Commissioned: | 9 September 2004 as F221 |
| Fate: | in service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Type 22 frigate |
| Displacement: | 5,300 tons |
| Length: | 148.1 m |
| Beam: | 14.8 m |
| Draught: | 6.4 m |
| Propulsion: | 4X Rolls Royce gas turbine engines |
| Speed: |
18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (cruise) 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max) |
| Range: | 4500nm |
| Complement: | 250 |
| Armament: | 76/62 Oto Melara Super-Rapid gun |
| Aircraft carried: | IAR-330 Puma Naval |
HMS Coventry was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be named Boadicea but was named Coventry in honour of the previous Coventry, a Type 42 destroyer sunk in the Falklands War.
She was purchased from the United Kingdom by the Romanian Navy on 14 January 2003, and renamed Regele Ferdinand (King Ferdinand) after Ferdinand I of Romania. The ship was handed over to Romania on 19 August 2004, and underwent sea trials at the same time. F221 Regele Ferdinand was commissioned into the Romanian Navy on 9 September 2004, and is the current flagship of the Romanian Navy. There has since been some controversy over the price at which she was bought.[1]
On 22 March 2011, President of Romania Traian Băsescu said, after a CSAT meeting, that Romania will send the frigate Regele Ferdinand with 205 mariners and two officers on board to enforce an arms embargo in the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the 2011 military intervention in Libya - Operation Unified Protector.[2] During their run in the NATO naval group acting on Operation Unified Protector - 2011, the frigate has traveled over 17,400 nautical miles and carried around 770 specific tasks.[3] Since the entry into service of the Forţele Navale Române, F221 "Regele Ferdinand" performed a series of tasks among which the most important are the Operation Active Endeavour in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 in the Mediterranean Sea, the exercise in Bulgaria "Breeze -CertExam" 2007, 2008 , the exercise "Noble Midas" in Croatia in 2007 and 2008 in Italy.[3]
Since 13 September 2012 F221 has participated in Operation Atalanta. On the ship are also embarked naval commandos Grupul Naval de Forțe pentru Operații Speciale (GNFOS).[4]
See also[]
- Regele Ferdinand class, a World War II-era namesake
References[]
- ↑ Leigh, David; Evans, Rob (13 June 2006). "We paid three times too much for UK frigates, Romania says". The Guardian. pp. 6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jun/13/armstrade.bae. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ↑ "Traian Basescu: Romania va trimite fregata Regele Ferdinand cu 205 militari in Mediterana pentru operatiuni de blocare a oricarei nave suspecte ca transporta armament". HotNews.ro. 22 March 2011. http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-politic-8423876-traian-basescu-sustine-declaratie-presa-ora-21-00-dupa-sedinta-csat.htm. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.agerpres.ro/media/index.php/politic/item/75046.html
- ↑ http://www.romanialibera.ro/exclusiv-rl/reportaj/regele-ferdinand-a-plecat-la-razboi-in-golful-aden-276989-main_pic2.html
External links[]
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