HMS ''Orkney'' was an 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 ...

. In 2000 she became TTS ''Nelson'' of the

Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) is the military organization responsible for the defence of the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It consists of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, the Tr ...

. In 2016, the vessel was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

Construction and British service

''Orkney'' was built by

Hall, Russell & Company Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in Aberdeen, Scotland. History Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a Glasgow engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boile ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, launched on 29 June 1976 and commissioned in February of the following year. She was modelled on the ocean-going fishery protection vessels ''Jura'' and ''Westra''. As part of the

Fishery Protection Squadron The Overseas Patrol Squadron (known as the Fishery Protection Squadron until 2020) is a front-line Squadron (naval), squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for patrolling the UK's Extended Fisheries Zone, both at home and around British Ov ...

, along with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s, she patrolled the waters around the UK (sometimes also

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 ...

) providing protection for Britain's fishing grounds, as well as providing oil and gas platform protection. In 1978, ''Orkney'' coordinated the clean-up operation after the tanker ''Christos Bitas''

ran aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In accidenta ...

in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. She helped co-ordinate the search for survivors from the trawler ''Ocean Monarch'' off

Fair Isle Fair Isle (; sco, Fair Isle; non, Friðarey; gd, Fara) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. Th ...

, in 1980 and recovered many of the bodies when the freighter ''Radiant Med'' sank off Guernsey in 1984. In 1993 she became involved in a fishing dispute with France around the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

Paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

in April 1999, she was laid up at

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 ...

. Following decommissioning, her bell, name board and honours board were presented to Orkney Islands Council.

Trinidad and Tobago service

In 2000 she was sold to the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and renamed TTS ''Nelson''. During her residency at the Coast Guard's headquarters in Chaguaramas, she saw little naval service as she experienced mechanical and structural problems due to her age at the time. After sixteen years under ownership by the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force she was sold for

in 2016 upon the Coast Guard's reception of her replacement, TTS ''Nelson II''.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orkney (P299) Patrol vessels of the Royal Navy Island-class patrol vessels 1976 ships Ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron of the United Kingdom Ships of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard