HMS Ashanti (F117)
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HMS ''Ashanti'' was a 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 ...
. She was named after the Ashanti people, an ethnic group located in
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. The frigate was sunk as a target in 1988. ''Ashanti'' was built by
Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...
, of Scotstoun, at a cost of £5,315,000 and was the first commissioned Royal Navy warship to be equipped with combined steam and gas (COSAG) engines. She was launched on 9 March 1959 and commissioned on 23 November 1961.


Operational Service

In 1962 malicious damage was reported aboard ''Ashanti''. ''Ashanti'' deployed to the Caribbean for
trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...
in 1962. There, in early October, the ship suffered a failure in her COSAG engines, forcing the frigate's return to Britain. Subsequent tests discovered that the COSAG's machinery was defective, which caused blade fracturing in the gas turbine. Hull strengthening also found to be required ''Ashanti'' was also used to trial the
Westland Wasp The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earlier piston-e ...
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, prior to its introduction to active service in 1964. The frigate conducted operations in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
and
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
for 10 months in 1963. In May 1965, ''Ashanti'' suffered minor damage in a collision with the Russian cargo ship ''Farab'' in the port of
Mombassa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
. In 1966/67 ''Ashanti'' was deployed on the
Beira Patrol The Beira Patrol was a blockade of oil shipments to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) through Beira, Mozambique, resulting from United Nations trade sanctions on Rhodesia. Background Rhodesia's government unilaterally declared the former colony's ind ...
. During that time she also spent a month in Aden having a gas turbine refit whilst some of the crew were seconded to the army as Britain withdrew from Aden, for which the crew were awarded the General Service medal with South Arabia clasp. There was also a visit to the Kuria Muria Islands, before going on to Bahrain and Kuwait. Given the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
, the Suez Canal being blocked, indecisiveness about whether to clear mines from the
Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
''Ashanti'' headed home via the Cape of Good Hope, stopping off at
Simon's Town Simon's Town ( af, Simonstad), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to  Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern ...
. Paragraph by onboard rating REM Bryant In 1969 ''Ashanti'' embarked a Royal Marines Commando detachment at Bermuda during a Black Power Conference. In 1970, ''Ashanti'' deployed on Beira Patrol, which was designed to prevent oil reaching landlocked Rhodesia via the 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 ...
. The following year ''Ashanti'' was present at the Royal Navy's withdrawal from
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. In 1974, while returning to Britain from the Caribbean, ''Ashanti'' suffered two fatalities when a large wave struck the frigate. The ship was just four hours out of Bermuda on her way back to the UK when hit by the wave. One was lost at sea, while the other suffered injuries and died aboard the frigate. The ship returned to Bermuda to disembark the body, and for repairs to the upper deck structure. Premature reports by Bermudian radio stations sent invalid signals to UK and it was reported on national TV news channels that ''Ashanti'' had been sunk and lost at sea. Three sailors, Timothy J Burton, David Little and James Wardle, died in 1977 from carbon monoxide poisoning after a fire broke out in a boiler room."Unscrewing of nut led to fatal fire in warship". ''The Times'' (59960): Col C, p. 5. 24 March 1977. ''Ashanti'' was returned to service in 1978 following a repair and refit, and finally placed in reserve and became a Harbour Training Ship. She was sunk as a
target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
in 1988 by the submarines and . The submarine HMS Swiftsure was submerged and launched two Sub Harpoon missiles from distance, video footage was taken from a helicopter observing the exercise. Another 'S' Class boat situated between HMS Swiftsure and the target hit the ship with Mk24 torpedoes subsequent to the Sub Harpoons, which broke the back of the ship causing it to break in two and sink.


References


Publications

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashanti (F117) Ships built on the River Clyde Tribal-class frigates 1959 ships