HMS ''Hardy'' was an anti-submarine warfare

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the or Type 14. She was named after

Thomas Masterman Hardy Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet, GCB (5 April 1769 – 20 September 1839) was a British Royal Navy officer. He took part in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797, the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 and the ...

, Captain of at

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England It may also refer to: Music * ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees Pl ...

. ''Hardy'' was the first Type 14 frigate built, completed on 8 December 1955, by

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also o ...

Operational Service

On commissioning ''Hardy'' served in the Third Training Squadron at

Londonderry Port Londonderry Port, now operating as Foyle Port, is a port located on Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland. It is the United Kingdom’s most westerly port and an important northerly port on the island of Ireland. The current port is at Lisahally, Co ...

before transferring to the Second Training Squadron in Portland in 1957. In 1960 she underwent a major modernisation and refit, before joining the Twentieth Frigate Squadron in Londonderry Port. In 1967 ''Hardy'' transferred to the Second Frigate Squadron and attended Portsmouth Navy Days. The after 40 mm guns in these ships were removed early in their careers due to hull strengthening problems. Icelandic Patrol and the First Cod War. In January 1977, when the United Kingdom enlarged its Exclusive economic zone to , ''Hardy'' was deployed on patrols of the EEZ, protecting fishing stocks and oil fields. Serving mainly in the Londonderry Port and Portland areas, ''Hardy'' attended the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet Review off

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

when she was part of the 2nd Frigate Squadron.Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. ''Silver Jubilee Fleet Review'', HMSO She paid off to the Standby Squadron in August 1977, then, after another short spell of operational service at Portland, became a stores accommodation ship in Portsmouth in October 1979. Hardy by name and hardy by nature: she was used as a target for Exocet and Sea Skua missiles and her bow was blown off by a torpedo. Following being shelled by 4.5" rounds and receiving patterns of anti submarine mortar charges set to shallow depth, both the main portion of the ship and the separated bow section were finally sunk, by the use of 20mm cannons fired from HMS Charybdis, in the Western Approaches 3 July 1984.

References

Publications

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy (F54) 1953 ships Blackwood-class frigates