''Regele Ferdinand'' (F221) is a

Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Initially intended to be anti-submarine warfare fri ...

of the

Romanian Naval Forces The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flot ...

, formerly a Royal Navy ship named HMS ''Coventry''. She was originally intended to be named ''Boadicea'' but was named ''Coventry'' in honour of the previous ''Coventry'', a

Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class, was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and s ...

sunk in the Falklands War. Following service in the Royal Navy she was sold to the Romanian Navy in 2003.

Operational Service

Royal Navy

Between 1990 and 1996 ''Coventry'' was the leader of the 1st Frigate Squadron. The ship received the freedom of the city of Coventry in 1988.

Romanian Navy

She was purchased from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flo ...

on 14 January 2003, and renamed ''Regele Ferdinand'' (King Ferdinand) after

Ferdinand I of Romania Ferdinand (Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad; 24 August 1865 – 20 July 1927), nicknamed ''Întregitorul'' ("the Unifier"), was King of Romania from 1914 until his death in 1927. Ferdinand was the second son of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and ...

. The ship was handed over to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

on 19 August 2004, and underwent

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s at the same time. ''Regele Ferdinand'' was commissioned into the Romanian Navy on 9 September 2004 with the pennant number F221, and is the current flagship of the

. There has since been some controversy over the price at which she was bought. On 22 March 2011, President of Romania

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

said, after a CSAT meeting, that Romania will send the frigate ''Regele Ferdinand'' with 205 mariners and two officers on board to enforce an arms embargo in the

Mediterranean Sea 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 ...

, as part of the

2011 military intervention in Libya On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War. With ten votes in favour and fiv ...

Operation Unified Protector Operation Unified Protector was a NATO operation in 2011 enforcing United Nations Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973 concerning the Libyan Civil War and adopted on 26 February and 17 March 2011, respectively. These resolutions imposed ...

. During their run in 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 ...

naval group acting on Operation Unified Protector - 2011, the frigate has traveled over and carried out around 770 specific tasks.
Since entry into service of the Romanian Navy, ''Regele Ferdinand'' has performed a series of tasks among which the most important are deployments to

Operation Active Endeavour Operation Active Endeavour was a maritime operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea and was designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. It had collateral benefit ...

in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 in the Mediterranean Sea, the exercise in Bulgaria "Breeze -CertExam" 2007, 2008, the exercise "Noble Midas" in Croatia in 2007 and 2008 in Italy. Since 13 September 2012 ''Regele Ferdinand'' has participated in

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the Eu ...

. The ship embarked naval commandos of Grupul Naval de Forțe pentru Operații Speciale (GNFOS). In August 2014, ''Regele Ferdinand'' sailed alongside

Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standing maritime immediate reaction force. SNMG2 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational resp ...

Task Unit 2 which operated in the Black Sea as part of Exercise Sea Breeze. In July 2019, the Romanian authorities announced the selection of Naval Group and its partner Santierul Naval Constanta (SNC) for the programme to build four new Gowind multi-mission corvettes and to modernise the T22 frigates.

Commanding officers

Gallery

File:HMS Coventry F98.jpg, HMS Coventry (F 98), conducts an underway replenishment while on station in the Persian Gulf. File:161029-N-ZE250-034 (30765229502).jpg, The Romanian Navy frigate ''Regele Ferdinand'' (F221) approaches

USS Carney USS ''Carney'' (DDG-64) is the 14th in the United States Navy. The ship is the first to be named after Admiral Robert Carney who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower administration. ''Carney'' was laid down 3 August 1993 a ...

(DDG 64) to conduct replenishment-at-sea training in the Black Sea Oct. 28, 2016. File:Regele Ferdinand 26.jpg, Navy helicopter landing on ''Regele Ferdinand''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regele Ferdinand Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Tyne 1986 ships Type 22 frigates of the Royal Navy Type 22 frigates of the Romanian Naval Forces