HMS ''Agincourt'' (D86) was a later or 1943 fleet

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. She was named in honour of the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

, fought in 1415 during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

. ''Agincourt'' was built by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Company Limited on the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

. She was launched on 29 January 1945 and commissioned on 25 June 1947.

Service

She joined the

4th Destroyer Flotilla The British 4th Destroyer Flotilla , or Fourth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1909 to July 1951. History In 1907 the Home Fleet had a large formation of destroyers called the Home Fleet Flotilla of destr ...

, part of the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

based in the UK. On 23 June 1948, ''Agincourt'' collided with the naval Motor Fishing Vessel ''MFV 1161'', breaking off a length of deck plating from the destroyer. In 1951, ''Agincourt'' became Captain (D), meaning she was the leader of the flotilla. On 14 July 1951, ''Agincourt'' was in collision with sister ship . A length of planking was torn off from ''Agincourt''s port side, while ''Cadiz''s starboard anchor was damaged. In 1953 ''Agincourt'' took part in the

Fleet Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In December 1954, ''Agincourt'', along with the rest of the squadron, formerly flotilla, deployed to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, where she was deployed until October 1955, when the Squadron returned to home waters. In 1956 ''Agincourt'' formed part of the Royal Navy force which took part in the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

. In 1957, ''Agincourt'', and the 4th Destroyer Squadron, returned to the Mediterranean.

Refit and conversion to Radar Picket

In 1959, ''Agincourt'' and three of her sister-ships underwent conversion to become

radar picket A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from cr ...

s. The conversion included the addition of the

Sea Cat missile Seacat was a British short-range surface-to-air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes. It was the world's first operational shipboard point-defence missile system, and was designed so tha ...

and new radar, as well as newer Anti-Aircraft weaponry. In 1962, ''Agincourt'' returned to active duty and saw service in the Home and

Fleets with a variety of squadrons. On 16 November 1962 ''Agincourt'' took part in the search for a helicopter from the aircraft carrier that had ditched off St David's Head in South west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(and in particular, the politician Lord Windlesham who was missing after the crash), and on the next day, was refuelling at

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

when she was ordered to go to the aid of the replenishment tanker , which was in difficulty while being towed in heavy seas off

Hartland Point Hartland Point is a high rocky outcrop of land on the north-western tip of the Devon coast in England. It is three miles (5 km) north-west of the village of Hartland. The point marks the western limit (on the English side) of the Bristol C ...

on the coast of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. By the time ''Agincourt'' reached Hartland Point, ''Green Ranger''s towline had parted, and the tanker had run aground. ''Agincourt'' illuminated ''Green Ranger'' with searchlights while the

Appledore Appledore may refer to: Places England * Appledore, Kent ** Appledore (Kent) railway station * Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton * Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford U.S.A. * Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fiction * App ...

lifeboat attempted to rescue the seven men aboard ''Green Ranger'', until they were taken off by

Breeches buoy A breeches buoy is a rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one place to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harn ...

from the shore. In 1966, ''Agincourt'' was reduced to Operational Reserve, and was subsequently placed on the disposal list in 1972. She was broken up in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1974.

Commanding officers

Royal Navy Senior Appointments, Colin Mackie

References

Publications

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agincourt (D86) Battle-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Tyne 1945 ships Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom