HMS ''Herald'' was a
''Hecla''-class ocean
survey ship
A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...
that served with the
Royal Navy during both the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
and
Gulf War.
Design and construction
The ''Hecla''-class were designed as combined
hydrographic and
oceanographic survey ships, built to merchant ship standards and of similar design to . ''Herald'' was the fourth ship of the class and was built to an improved design to the three earlier ''Hecla''s.
She was
laid down at the
Robb Caledon's
Leith shipyard on 9 November 1971, was
launched on 4 October 1973 and completed on 31 October 1974. She had the
Pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
A138.
''Herald'' was long, 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
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.
She had
diesel-electric propulsion, with three Paxman Ventura 12-cylinder
diesel engines rated at powering two electric motors, rated at a total of and driving one propeller shaft, giving a speed of . She had a range of at a speed of .
The ship had a complement of 128 officers and other ranks.
Operational history
In January 1979, ''Herald'', along with sister ship and the smaller survey ships and , was carrying out survey operations off the coast of
Iran when she was diverted to pick up about 60 British and American dependents from the port of
Bandar Abbas in the wake of the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
.
During the Falklands War, ''Herald'' served as a
Red Cross ship, ferrying casualties from
San Carlos to
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
. During 1983 she served as a South Atlantic
Guardship.
Following the
Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, ''Herald'' was deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean as a support ship for the minehunters of the 3rd Mine Countermeasures Squadron. She continued to support the squadron after it moved to the Gulf, and was still on station when the
Gulf War air campaign began in January 1991, but was relieved by sister ship .
In 1998 she located the wreck of
HMS Russell, off Malta.
The ship's pennant number changed to H 138 in 1998.
In December 2000, ''Herald'' answered a
Mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
call and took part in a joint operation with the
Royal Air Force to rescue the crew of the
Cypriot
Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus.
* Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes:
**Armenian Cypriots
**Greek Cypriots
**Maronite Cypriots
**Turkish C ...
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
''Royal Prince''. The 35-metre ship sank in rough seas, but the crew were rescued by a RAF
helicopter from
RAF Akrotiri and landed on HMS ''Herald''.
Decommissioning
''Herald'' was paid off on 12 April 2001 and decommissioned on 31 May 2001, having been replaced by the two new survey vessels of the
''Echo'' class, and .
After decommissioning, Herald joined her
sister in
Waterford after a brief re-fit in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
dockyard. She was renamed ''Somerville'' after Admiral
James Somerville and was used for a hydrographic survey in
Irish waters. The ship was sold in 2004 to Indian breakers and beached on 18 June of that year.
Postage stamps
''Herald'' appears on two stamps with
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince ...
, issued by
Saint Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
.
Citations
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herald (H138)
Hecla-class survey vessels
Ships built in Leith
Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom
Gulf War ships of the United Kingdom
Hospital ships of the Royal Navy
Hospital ships during the Falklands War
1974 ships