HMS ''Naiad'' (F39) was a ''Leander''-class frigate 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 ...

(RN). Like the rest of the class, ''Naiad'' was named after a figure or figure of mythology, in this case, the

Naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

s of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. ''Naiad'' was built 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 ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

. She was launched on 4 November 1963 and commissioned on 15 March 1965.

Operational service

In 1966, ''Naiad'' became the leader of the

Northern Ireland Squadron The Northern Ireland Squadron was a unit of the British Royal Navy. It was established during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles to interdict the movement by sea of illegal arms for paramilitaries and to provide other material ...

and subsequently deployed to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. In June 1966 she was present at Kieler Woche ( Kiel Week, in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

) and the Duke of Edinburgh held a state dinner on board in honour of West German President Heinrich Lubke. On 4 May 1967, she recommissioned for a general service commission and was present at Portsmouth Navy Days in that year. In 1970 ''Naiad'' deployed to the Far East, and while there, participated in the Beira Patrol, designed to prevent oil reaching the landlocked

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

via the then Portuguese colony of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. She performed her second patrol the following year. The Beira Patrol was a regular deployment for the RN until 1975. In 1971 she was present at Portsmouth Navy Days.

Ikara conversion

In January 1973 ''Naiad'' began her modernisation at Devonport Dockyard, with her twin 4.5-in gun being replaced by the Australian-designed

Ikara Ikara is a town in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, located around 75 kilometres north-east away from the city of Zaria. Ikara as a district consist of five towns which are Ikara, Tudun - wada, Nasarawa, Sabon - Gari, Jamfalan, Kurmin - Kogi, Hay ...

anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missile system. The modernisation was completed in 1975, and ''Naiad'' then became part of the

6th Frigate Squadron The 6th Frigate Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1950 to 2002. History During its existence, the squadron included , Type 15, , , , and Type 23 frigates. Ships from the squadron participated in the Coronation Fleet ...

Third Cod War

The following year ''Naiad'' undertook a Fishery Protection Patrol during the

Third Cod War The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...

, and on 24 April 1976, she was rammed by the Icelandic gunboat ''Tyr'' causing hull and bow damage. The frigate began to take tons of water, which prompted damage control teams to build a concrete enclosure around the gash. ''Naiad'' required dry docking at Devonport on her return home. In 1977, ''Naiad'', like many other ''Leanders'', took part in the Fleet Review, of the Royal Navy at

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 ...

in celebration of the

Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth throughout 1977, ...

. ''Naiad'' was positioned between ''Brighton'' and her sister-ship ''Andromeda''. In 1980 ''Naiad'' deployed to the Far East once again. In 1981 ''Naiad'' 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 ...

. From 1983 to 1984 she underwent a refit at Devonport Dockyard. In 1985 ''Naiad'' returned to the Mediterranean as part of the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

multi-national squadron Naval On-call Force of the Mediterranean (NAVOCFORMED), the predecessor of the Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED). The following year ''Naiad'' joined the Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), another NATO multi-national squadron.

Decommissioning and disposal

In April 1987 ''Naiad'' was decommissioned. In 1989 she was used for hull trials with the name ''Hulvul''. On 24 September 1990, ''Naiad'' was towed from Portsmouth and sunk as a target.

Commanding officers

References

Publications

* * Marriott, Leo, 1983. ''Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983'', Ian Allan Ltd, Surrey.

External links

Official HMS NAIAD website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naiad (F39) Leander-class frigates 1963 ships Ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron of the United Kingdom Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1990