South American future for HMS Norfolk

South American future for HMS Norfolk

EDP

20 July 2005 20:04

HMS Norfolk, the county's adopted warship, has been sold to the Chilean Navy as part of a three-ship package deal worth just under £200m.

It means the sixth ship to bear the county name has followed its predecessor for a new life south of the equator.

The Type 23 frigate, which ended its Royal Navy service at the end of March, will head to the southern hemisphere with sister ships HMS Grafton and HMS Marlborough over the next three years.

Training and spare parts are also included in the $350m (£192m) deal.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “That represents extremely good value for the British taxpayer.”

The ships ended their career after the introduction of the Type 45 destroyer, which has a much greater capability, and because of a perceived reduction in the enemy submarine threat, an area of operation that HMS Norfolk was specifically designed to counter.

MoD sources say the sale of the three frigates to Chile also signals an improving relationship between Britain and the South American state in recent years.

The sixth HMS Norfolk ended its illustrious service with the Royal Navy at the end of March, followed by a formal decommissioning ceremony on April 15. It has not been to sea since November, after a farewell visit to Norfolk and the east coast.

It was launched in 1987 and has seen service across the globe, including most recently in the northern Arabian Gulf as part of the war on terror, but has spent the last few months at its home naval base of Devonport.

The current HMS Norfolk was deemed surplus to requirements last July amid the same round of defence cuts that saw the closure of RAF Coltishall announced.

The fifth HMS Norfolk, launched in November 1967, once had Prince Charles as one of its company. When the vessel left service, she was handed over to the Chilean navy on February 17, 1982 and renamed Captain Pratt.