HMS ''Leopard'' (F14), was a ''Leopard''-class Type 41

anti aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

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

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

, named after the

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

Construction and design

The ''Leopard''-class, or Type 41, frigates were designed for a main role of providing anti-aircraft protection for convoys. As such they were provided with a heavy gun armament but did not require high speed. They shared a common hull and machinery with the (or Type 61) aircraft direction frigates. ''Leopard'' was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

, at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

and , with a

Beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was standard and deep load. She was powered by eight Admiralty Standard Range 1 (ASR1)

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s, with a total power of , driving two propeller shafts giving a speed of . Four more of these engines were used to generate electricity, driving 500 kW alternators. The ship had a range of at full power and at . The ship's main gun armament consisted of two twin 4.5 inch (113 mm) Mark 6 dual purpose gun turrets, mounted one forward and one aft, with a STAAG twin stabilised 40mm Bofors mount providing close-in anti-aircraft defence, although this mounting was unreliable and later replaced by a single Bofors gun. A single

Squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

anti submarine mortar was fitted. As built, ''Leopard'' was fitted with a Type 960 long-range radar on the ship's

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...

and Type 293Q surface/air search radar on the

foremast The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...

. A Mark 6M fire control system (including a Type 275 radar) for the 4.5 inch guns was mounted above the ship's bridge, with a secondary CRBF (Close-Range Blind Fire) director aft, fitted with Type 262 Radar, while the STAAG mount was fitted with its own Type 262 fire control radar. while a Type 974 navigation radar was also fitted. Type 965 long-range air search radar replaced Type 960 during a refit in 1964 and 1966, with Type 993 surface/air search and target indication radar replaced the Type 293Q. The ship's sonar fit consisted of Type 174 search, Type 170 fire control sonar for Squid and a Type 162 sonar for classifying targets on the sea floor. ''Leopard'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

Portsmouth dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

on 25 March 1953, was launched on 23 May 1955 and commissioned on 30 September 1958. Cost was £3,545,000."Seaman Killed As Warships Collide". ''The Times'' (55765): Col C, p. 8. 29 July 1963.

Service

The ship, first commanded by Commander R.G. Gaunt, was to serve in the South Atlantic and South America upon commission, as part of the 7th Frigate Squadron. In 1960 she sailed 1,144 miles up the River Amazon to Godajas. In 1961, ''Leopard'' sailed for the island of

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...

after a volcanic eruption. Her crew assisted in the relief effort, as well as the recovery of personal belongings left behind by the island's inhabitants. In 1963, ''Leopard'' suffered serious damage when she collided with the South African minesweeper ''Pietermaritzburg'' during exercises off

Cape Point Cape Point ( af, Kaappunt) is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula, a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres at the extreme southwestern tip of the African continent in South Afri ...

. One man was killed, and ''Leopard'' put into Simonstown for temporary repairs before returning to Portsmouth for more permanent repairs. In February 1966 she commissioned for the fourth time and in August 1966 sailed for the Far East where she spent a busy year of exercises.Programme, ''Navy Days at Portsmouth August 31st – September 2nd 1968, p. 11.'' During the period 1967 to 1968 she was commanded by N R D King who later achieved flag rank.Debrett's People of Today 1994 In 1968, she was diverted to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

in response to civil unrest. In the same year she took part in Portsmouth 'Navy Days' and completed her fourth commission in that year. During Britain's fishing dispute with Iceland in 1973, ''Leopard'' was accused by Iceland of threatening to fire on the patrol ship ''Ægir''. The British government denied the claims, accusing the Icelandic ship of trying to cut the trawling wires of the German fishing vessels ''Teutonia'' and ''Dusseldorf'', and of firing several shots. The government further stated that ''Leopard'' had only warned the ''Ægir'' that she would fire back if more shots were fired. ''Leopard'' provided further support for British trawlers during another fishing dispute with Iceland in 1975, spending a single week on patrol. She was scrapped at Dartford in 1977.

References

Publications

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leopard (F14) Leopard-class frigates Ships built in Portsmouth 1955 ships Ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron of the United Kingdom