HMS London (F95)

HMS London was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy, originally named Bloodhound but renamed London at the request of the Lord Mayor of London.

HMS London
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS London
Namesake:	London
Operator:	Royal Navy
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down:	7 February 1983
Launched:	27 October 1984
Commissioned:	5 June 1987
Decommissioned:	14 January 1999
Identification:	Pennant number: F95
Fate:	Sold to Romania on 14 January 2003
Romania
Name:	Regina Maria
Namesake:	Marie of Edinburgh
Acquired:	14 January 2003
Commissioned:	21 April 2005
Identification:	Pennant number: F222
Status:	In active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Type 22 frigate
Displacement:	5,300 tonnes
Length:	148.1 m (486 ft)
Beam:	14.8 m (49 ft)
Draught:	6.4 m (21 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B high-speed gas turbines (54,000 shp / 40 MW) 2 × Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1C cruise gas turbines (9,700 shp / 7.2 MW)
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (cruise) 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max)
Complement:	250
Armament:	UK: 2 × 6 GWS25 Sea Wolf surface-to-air missile launchers 4 × 1 MM.38 Exocet surface-to-surface missile Launchers 2 × Twin 30 mm BMARC anti-aircraft guns 2 × 20 mm GAM-BO1 guns 4 × 7.62mm General purpose machine guns Romania: 76/62 Oto Melara Super-Rapid gun
Aircraft carried:	UK: Lynx Mk.8 Romania: IAR-330 Puma Naval

She was flagship of the Royal Navy task force during the 1991 Gulf War.

She was decommissioned on 14 January 1999 and sold to the Romanian Navy on 14 January 2003, being commissioned as Regina Maria on 21 April 2005 after Queen Marie of Romania, wife of King Ferdinand I of Romania. Before the sale the Sea Wolf and Exocet missile systems were removed, and the only armament the ship had when delivered was two 30mm BMARC cannons and two three-tube anti-submarine torpedo launchers. The Romanian Navy had a 76 mm OTO-Melera gun system fitted forward where the Exocets had been mounted, but no missile systems or additional weapons have been fitted. There has since been some controversy over the price for which Romania purchased the ship.[1]

Commanding officers

From	To	Captain
1986	1987	Captain Robert Fisher RN
1987	1989	Captain Douglas Littlejohns RN
1989	1990	Captain James Taylor RN
1990	1991	Captain Iain Henderson RN
1991	1992	Captain Mark Stanhope RN
1992	1994	Captain Timothy McClement RN
1994	1996	Commander Alan Brooks RN
1996	1998	Commander Iain Greenlees RN
1998	1999	Commander Thomas McBarnet RN

Gallery

• 
  HMS London
• 
  Regina Maria at the Trafalgar 200 International Fleet Review 2005

See also

• Regina Maria destroyer (Regele Ferdinand class), a World War II-era namesake

References

1. Leigh, David (13 June 2006). "We paid three times too much for UK frigates, Romania says". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 June 2006.

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.