HMS Chatham (F87)
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HMS Chatham at the International Fleet Review, 2005
Career (UK)
Name:	HMS Chatham
Operator:	Royal Navy
Laid down:	12 May 1986
Launched:	20 January 1988
Commissioned:	4 May 1990
Motto:	Up and at 'em
Fate:	Active in service as of 2008
General characteristics
Class and type:	Type 22 frigate
Displacement:	5,300 tons
Length:	148.1 m (486 ft 9 in)
Beam:	14.8 m (48 ft 6 in)
Draught:	6.4 m (21 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × Rolls-Royce Spey gas turbines (high speed) 2 × Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines (cruising) 2 shafts driving variable pitch propellers with COGAG (Combined gas and gas) gearbox, allowing all four engines to provide power to the drive train.
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h) cruise 30 knots (56 km/h) maximum
Complement:	250 (max. 301)
Armament:	1 × 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mk.8 gun Goalkeeper CIWS Sea Wolf anti-missile system 2 × Quad Harpoon missile launchers 2 × 20 mm Close range guns NATO Seagnat Decoy Launchers
Aircraft carried:	Lynx Mk.8 helicopters armed with: Sea Skua anti-ships missiles Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedoes Mk 11 depth charges Machine guns

HMS Chatham (F87) is a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was guardship to the Royal Yacht Britannia when she withdrew from Hong Kong. In May 2000, under Chatham was part of the Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) sent to the coast of Sierra Leone to oversee the evacuation of British, EU and Commonwealth nationals as part of Operation Palliser, under the captaincy of George Zambellas.

In March 2003 HMS Chatham became the first British warship to fire her guns in anger as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom when she engaged targets on the Al-Faw Peninsula of southern Iraq. Approximately 60 rounds were fired at a variety of targets from her 4.5" gun. In company with HMAS Anzac she remained on station for the following 72 hours at immediate readiness to provide fire support to the troops of the Royal Marines as they advanced up the peninsula.

HMS Chatham deployed from the UK to the Persian Gulf in January and returned in August. During the deployment, in the run up to and the conduct of the invasion of Iraq the ship spent around 90 days at sea continuously in defence watches in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. At times she came very close to hitting mines laid by Iraqi dhows and tugs in the shallow waters to be found in the area.

HMS Chatham also hosted the BBC for the television programme Shipmates which charted the life of ordinary sailors in the Royal Navy. In the program Chatham was filmed on active service in the Persian Gulf, whilst on an anti-terrorist mission. The show also covered the Chatham's humanitarian relief efforts off the coast of Sri Lanka after the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004.^[1]

On April 18, 2005, Chatham, at Alexandria, Egypt, sent a party ashore to provide a burial for the recently-uncovered remains of thirty British sailors and officers who had died during or after the Battle of the Nile in 1798.^[2]

On October 31, 2006, HMS Chatham visited the town of Chatham, Massachusetts. The Chatham was on its way to Boston, but stopped at the town with the same name for that reason.

As of 16th March 2007, F87 is docked at St. Mary's Island, Chatham, as part of a recruitment drive to encourage local people to join the Navy.

Affiliations

• 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps
• Medway Council
• Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
• Chatham Dockyard Historic Trust
• Medway Towns Sea Cadet Corps - TS Cornwallis

References

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