HMS ''Cordella'' was a

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 ...

auxiliary

mine countermeasures vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destro ...

that served during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

as part of

11th MCM Squadron The 11th Mine Countermeasures Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy during the Falklands War of 1982. Unit history Background On 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. Intelligence from a submarine reported the laying of ...

Service history

F/V ''Cordella'' was a 1,238 ton fishing trawler built in 1973 by

Clelands Shipbuilding Company Clelands Shipbuilding Company was a leading British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Wallsend was nationalised by the British Government. It was founded in 1864 by John and Thomas Cleland, and operated until it was acquired by Swan ...

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. ''Cordella'' was one of five

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

-based trawlers that were taken up from trade by the Royal Navy in 1982 for service as naval trawlers (auxiliary MCM vessels) during the Falklands War. The trawlers were fitted with Oropesa towed minesweeping equipment and Extra Deep Armed Team Sweep (EDATS) equipment at HMNB Rosyth and crewed by Royal Navy personnel prior to operational deployment.Freedman, Lawrence (2005), ''The Official History of the Falklands Campaign: War and Diplomacy'' During night of 10 June 1982, ''Cordella'' supported her sister ship HMS ''Pict'' while the latter influence swept Berkeley Sound. No mines were found thus reducing the risk to ships engaging in naval bombardment of Argentine positions. During nights of 12, 13, and 14 June, she conducted covert operations resupplying

SAS SAS or Sas may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers * ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series * Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...

and SBS patrols deployed variously along the coast. Following the Argentine surrender Cordella and the other four ships of the 11 MCM cleared the minefields off Port Stanley.

Post-war

After the war she returned to the United Kingdom and returned to her peacetime role as a fishing vessel. She returned to the Falkland Islands in the early 1990s and was used as a Fishery Protection vessel under charter to the Falkland Islands Government, occasionally making trips to patrol South Georgia waters too. In 2000 ''Cordella'' was sold to a Latvian owner as F/V ''Olga''. Renamed as F/V ''Gideon'', she was lost off

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

in 2005.

References

External links

Merchant Navy Ships
serving in the Falklands War {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordella, HMS Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Tyne 1967 ships

Service history

Post-war

See also

References

External links