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| Career | RN Ensign |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1 March 1977 |
| Laid down: | 6 February 1978 at Vosper Thorneycroft's Woolston yard |
| Launched: | 18 February 1980 by Lady Leach (wife of the then First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Henry Leach) |
| Commissioned: | 14 April 1983 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | Template:Ship fate box active in service |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,820 tonnes |
| Length: | 125 m (410 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.3 m (47 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.8 m |
| Propulsion: | 2 Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines 2 Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1C gas turbines (cruising engines, top speed about 18 knots(33 km/h)) |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 271 (27 Officers, 71 Senior Rates, 173 Junior Rates) |
| Armament: | 1 Twin Sea Dart missile launcher 1 Vickers 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mk 8 automatic gun |
| Aircraft: | Lynx HMA8 |
| Motto: | Foy Pour Devoir ("Faith for Duty") |
HMS Nottingham (D91), is a batch two Type 42 Destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after the city of Nottingham, England. She was launched on February 18 1980, and commissioned on 8 April 1983 and is the sixth ship to bear the name.
Her Commanding Officer at commissioning was Commander Nigel Essenhigh (in his first major command role ) went on to become First Sea Lord. On her first cruise to Oporto, Portugal and then Gibraltar she sadly lost 4 sailors to a drowning incident in Oporto. "The Notty" was the last of the short Type 42s and suffered from the usual stressing of the flexible joint amidships.
In November 2000 Nottingham completed a major refit, which extended her operational life to 2012.
In 2001 Nottingham she took part in a NATO exercise near Scotland and in RN exercises near Oman in the Middle East.
On 21 March 2002 she left Portsmouth for a nine-month trip to several countries in Asia.
On 7 July 2002, Nottingham ran aground on the submerged but well-charted Wolf Rock near Lord Howe Island, 200 miles off the coast of Australia. A 160 ft (50 m) hole was torn down the side of the vessel from bow to bridge, flooding five of her compartments and nearly causing her to sink. The accident happened in poor weather after a wounded sailor was evacuated to the island, involving some late course changes. The captain was not on the ship at the time, but was having dinner with the habourmaster Clive Wilson. Emergency repairs were made to make it possible to move the ship. On 6 August, Nottingham set out on her journey to the port of Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia, towed stern-first because of the damage to her bow. In Newcastle, her Sea Dart missiles were removed and further repairs are carried out.
It was decided Nottingham would be repaired in the UK. After arriving in Sydney on 15 October, the damaged ship was lifted on board the heavy lifting vessel MV Swan and welded to her deck for transport. On 28 October Nottingham left Sydney harbour on board the MV Swan for the journey back to the UK. On 9 December, she arrived at Portsmouth Harbour for repairs.
Meanwhile, the destroyer HMS Glasgow was reactivated to cover for Nottingham while she was being repaired.
On on 7 July 2003, the anniversary of the collision, Nottingham was refloated.
In April 2004 she sailed again following the £39M repair and refit. The ship was expected to return to normal duties in July 2004.
Nottingham maintains a close relationship with the city which it is named for and the Nottingham public are said to be very proud of 'their ship'. The crew of the ship have the freedom of the city and the ship is affiliated to several Nottingham based charities and organisations.
See HMS Nottingham for other ships of the same name.
External links
- Official HMS Nottingham website of the Royal Navy
- BBC Virtual Tour
- BBC 360° Tour
- Personal overview of the 2002 grounding by a former Royal Navy officer
- Warship at sea after £39m repairs - BBC News story
| Type 42 destroyers | |
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 Royal Navy | |
 Argentine NavyHércules class | |
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