HMS Lancaster (F229)
HMS Lancaster in the Caribbean Sea during 2013 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Lancaster |
| Ordered | September 1986 |
| Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Laid down | 18 December 1987 |
| Launched | 24 May 1990 |
| Sponsored by | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Commissioned | 1 May 1992 |
| Out of service | Projected 2025 |
| Refit | Major 2010–2012, LIFEX 2017–2019 |
| Homeport | HMNB Portsmouth (forward deployed to Operation Kipion) |
| Nickname(s) | The Queen's Frigate |
| Status | In active service |
| Badge | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type 23 frigate |
| Displacement | 4,900 t (4,800 long tons) |
| Length | 133 m (436 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | In excess of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 7,500 nmi (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 185 (accommodation for up to 205) |
| Electronic warfare & decoys |
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| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried |
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| Aviation facilities |
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HMS Lancaster is a Duke-class Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 May 1990. The ship is known as "The Queen's Frigate", the Duke of Lancaster being a subsidiary title of the Sovereign. Being the third ship in the Type 23 class, Lancaster was originally allocated the pennant number F232 until it was noted that the 232 is the Royal Navy report form for groundings and collisions and therefore considered unlucky.
The ship, like her sisters Monmouth, Montrose, Iron Duke and Argyll, did not receive the new Sonar 2087 upgrade that other frigates of the class subsequently received. Therefore she is regarded as a "general purpose" frigate without the more specialized anti-submarine capability that, originally, eight ships in the Type 23 fleet did receive.