HMS Dido (F104)
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HMS ''Dido'' was a
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)
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 ...
. Entering service in 1961, ''Dido'' was involved in the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...
, served with NATO's
Standing Naval Force Atlantic Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. Hi ...
on several occasions, and was one of the frigates used for the filming of the drama series ''
Warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
''. Following a defence review at the start of the 1980s, the ship was transferred to the
Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
(RNZN), and was recommissioned as HMNZS ''Southland''. ''Southland'' remained in service until 1995. After decommissioning the frigate was towed to the Philippines where her boilers were removed, and then sent to India for scrapping.


Construction

''Dido'' 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
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. She 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 ...
as a to be called ''Hastings'' on 2 December 1959, but in 1960, it was decided to complete the ship as one of the new ''Leander'' class, with the new name ''Dido''.Osborne and Sowdon 1990, pp. 32, 109. The naming ceremony for ''Dido'' took place on 21 December 1961, but her launch was delayed until the next day because of fog.Osborne and Sowdon 1990, p. 33. ''Dido'' was commissioned on 18 September 1963. Total construction cost was £4600000.Osborne and Sowdon 1990, p. 36. The ship was long
overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
and at the waterline, 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 maximum 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 full load. Two oil-fired boilers fed steam at and to a pair of double reduction geared
steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s that in turn drove two propeller shafts, with the machinery rated at , giving a speed of .Osborne and Sowdon 1990, p. 111. A twin 4.5-inch (113 mm) Mark 6 gun mount was fitted forward. While the ''Leander''-class was planned to be fitted with the
Sea Cat Seacat was a British short-range surface-to-air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes. It was the world's first operational shipboard point-defence missile system, and was designed so tha ...
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
, ''Dido'' was completed with two Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns as a temporary substitute until Sea Cat could be fitted. A
Limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...
anti-submarine mortar was fitted aft to provide a short-range anti-submarine capability, while a hangar and helicopter deck allowed a single
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 to be operated, for longer range anti-submarine and anti-surface operations.Osborne and Sowdon 1990, pp. 33–34. As built, ''Dido'' was fitted with a large Type 965 long range air search
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
on the ship's mainmast, with a Type 993 short range air/surface target indicating radar and Type 974 navigation radar carried on the ship's foremast. An MRS3 fire control system was carried to direct the 4.5-inch guns.Osborne and Sowden 1990, pp. 33, 35. The ship had a
sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
suite of Type 177 medium range search sonar, Type 162 bottom search and Type 170 attack sonar, together with a Type 199
variable depth sonar A towed array sonar is a system of hydrophones towed behind a submarine or a surface ship on a cable. Trailing the hydrophones behind the vessel, on a cable that can be kilometers long, keeps the array's sensors away from the ship's own noise sour ...
(VDS).


Royal Navy Service

The ship was assigned to the Far East, joining the 22nd Escort Group in 1964 and took part in the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...
, and became leader of the 21st Escort Group the following year. ''Dido'' was reassigned to the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic (
STANAVFORLANT Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. Hi ...
) in 1969 and also took part in a
fleet review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...
at Spithead on 16 May 1969 as part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the formation of NATO. The ship was one of four used as the fictional frigate HMS ''Hero'' in the 1970s
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television drama series ''
Warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
''. ''Dido'' was extensively refitted at Devonport between July 1975 and October 1978, as a Batch 1B
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 ...
conversion (and the last to be completed),Osborne and Sowdon 1990, pp. 57–58, 109. at a cost of £23,000,000.Osborne and Sowdon 1990, p. 45. An Ikara ASW missile launcher replaced the 4.5-inch turret, while two Sea Cat launchers were fitted to the hangar roof. The two Bofors guns were retained but moved forward to abreast the ship's mainmast. The Limbo anti-submarine mortar and Wasp helicopter was retained. The long-range Type 965 radar was removed, with improved navigation and target indicating radars fitted, and the ADAWS 5 computer aided combat direction system added to direct Ikara operations. The ship's sonar suite remained unchanged.Osborne and Sowdon 1990, pp. 55–57, 111. After working up following the refit, ''Dido'' joined the 3rd Frigate Squadron. In 1983 the ship was briefly assigned again to the Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT).


Royal New Zealand Navy Service

As a result of the 1981 Defence Review, which had recommended the disposal of some older frigates, the ship was sold to the RNZN, along with sister ship . The already 18-year-old ''Southland'' was selected mainly to train RNZN personnel on computerised command and control systems, even though the ADWAS 5 system was dated with only 4 screens and talley and a quarter of the processing capacity and screens of the later Leander and T21, C4 CAAIS. It is seen as a dubious purchase, in retrospect, and by some at the time, as an ageing, if recently refitted, 'over specialised anti submarine frigate' without any real surface armament or surveillance radar. The acquisition of the second hand frigate was also in direct conflict with the 1978 NZ Defence Review that decided that future frigates would be gas turbine powered and steam abandoned as a prime mover for RNZ combat ships. Diesel powered long range frigates were also, offered in 1981, HMS Lynx and HMS Lincoln were rejected on account of age and lack of helicopter capability, the partly gas turbine powered HMS Zulu and HMS Norfolk which at least started and could leave port immediately, without 6/8 hours to flash up the steam boilers were rejected on the basis 'that they were already almost in the scrapyard' (they were later sold to Indonesia and Chile) and excessive manning requirements, although all had 4.5 guns and 965AW radar and in the case of HMS Norfolk, full Link 10/11 USN compatible communications, high range and Exocet missiles. The option of purchasing a second Ikara ''Leander'' was available in the general offer after the UK 1981 Defence Review, with , and in particular , completed in March 1965, also offered. Given the extremely specialised nature of the Ikara ''Leander''s and their incompatibility with the rather different Ikara systems in the Australian Type 12 frigates and
guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...
s, the acquisition of two Ikara ''Leander''s would actually have given a real capability, able to test and practice, joint computer age anti-submarine operations. As UK experience and UK Treasury costing already indicated that the 13-year-old ''Bacchante'' was too old for cost-containable structural modernisation, a view also held by the former captain of ,I. Bradley. Defending NZ. Listener, Sept 1982 ''Southland'' received a five-month, $15 million refit at
Vosper Thornycroft VT Group is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VT Group was integrated into Babcock International in t ...
after recommissioning on 18 July 1983 as HMNZS ''Southland''. During the refit the Limbo mortar and VDS were removed as were the associated 170 and 199 sonars, while US Mk 32 torpedo tubes for anti-submarine torpedoes were fitted. The refit was completed in late December 1983 and over the following months, ''Southland'' had several workups at
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and participated in a number of Royal Navy and
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 ...
exercises before sailing for New Zealand in mid-1984. An earlier already had historical links with
Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
.


Decommissioning and fate

Around 1986 extensive plans were drawn up for a major refit of ''Southland'' which would have allowed its Ikara capability to remain operational until the mid-1990s. The RN had significantly modernised one of its remaining Ikara ''Leander''s, at the time with long range 2031 towed array capable of passive detection in the 160 km + range zone. The Royal Australian Navy planned to continue with its similar, but incompatible, Ikara system for a while. However quotes for refitting ''Southland'' in UK yards or at Lyttleton proved high, the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
effectively ended in 1989 and with the RN and USN withdrawing its stock of nuclear depth charges, (the intended warhead option for RN Ikara ''Leander''s to attack Soviet submarines at range, where two directional sound transmission times were probably too great for accurate proximity direction of Ikara carrying MK 46 torpedoes) meant Ikara was no longer useful to the Royal Navy. As a result, the Ikara system was withdrawn from RNZN use in 1989 with space found for a low cost refit at the RNZN dockyard for it to continue as a General Purpose frigate until 1993. Decommissioned in 1995, ''Southland'' was towed away by two patrol craft to the Philippines where her boilers were removed for a rubber plantation. She was then towed to Singapore where she was sold to an Indian tug company who took her to
Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
beach in India. She was pulled up on the beach and her parts were sold.


See also

*
Frigates of the Royal New Zealand Navy Commissioned frigates of the Royal New Zealand Navy from its formation on 1 October 1941 to the present: Class types frigates Whitby-class frigate, ''Whitby''-class (Type 12) frigates Rothesay-class frigate, ''Rothesay''-class (Type 12M) fri ...


References


Publications

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


External links


British Film Institute site on ''Warship''

Royal Navy leaflet on ''Warship'', from the HMS ''Phoebe'' Association website




* ttp://www.hms-dido.com/ HMS ''Dido'' Association website {{DEFAULTSORT:Dido Leander-class frigates Ships built on the River Clyde 1961 ships