HMS ''Birmingham'' was a Type 42 destroyer laid down by Cammell Laird and Company, Limited, at Birkenhead on 28 March 1972, launched on 30 July 1973 by Lady Empson, wife of Sir

Derek Empson Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Leslie Derek Empson, (29 October 1918 – 20 September 1997) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy who served as Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command (Royal Navy), Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command from 1 ...

and commissioned on 3 December 1976. She was named for the city of Birmingham, England. ''Birmingham'' was also one of the first ships together with ''Ardent'' that served in the Persian Gulf on the Armilla patrol that protected oil supplies during the Iran–Iraq War in 1980. She was also the first ship to replenish a Sea Dart missile at sea. ''Birmingham'' spent much of her service as Fleet Contingency Ship and spent considerable time in the post- Falklands conflict patrol role. In 1984 she patrolled the Falklands and acted as a radar picket ship along with the frigates and . In 1985 she took part in Standing Naval Force Mediterranean, calling at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

, Naples, &

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. After a refit at Rosyth dockyard, she returned to Portsmouth in 1988 for sea trials and re-acceptance to the fleet. Commanded by Roy Clare, Director of the Maritime Museum in London (2006-7), her first deployment post-refit was a tour to the Persian Gulf region, returning in March 1989. In July 1990, whilst on deployment as part of the

West Indies Guard Ship Standing Royal Navy deployments is a list of operations and commitments undertaken by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy on a worldwide basis. The following list details these commitments and deployments sorted by region and in alphabetical order. Ro ...

, ''Birmingham'', supported by

RFA RFA may refer to: Government and private organizations * Radio Free Asia, a private news broadcaster and publisher in East Asia, funded in part by the U.S. government * Renewable Fuels Agency, a former UK renewable fuel regulatory agency * Ren ...

''Oakleaf'' was ordered to sail from Florida to Trinidad in response to the Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt, in which Islamist fundamentalists had taken hostages. However, as the ''Birmingham'' arrived the hostages were released. ''Birmingham'' paid off at Portsmouth on 10 December 1999. In early January 2000 under her own power, she sailed to Devonport where, for the next two months, she was stripped of usable equipment. In May 2000 she was towed back to Portsmouth where she was sold for scrap, leaving under tow for Spain on 20 October 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham (D86) Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom History of Birmingham, West Midlands Ships built on the River Mersey 1973 ships Type 42 destroyers of the Royal Navy