HMS Grafton (F80)

HMS Grafton (F80)
Career (UK)
Name:	HMS Grafton (F80)
Operator:	Royal Navy
Ordered:	January 1992
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down:	13 May 1993
Launched:	5 November 1994
Commissioned:	29 May 1997
Decommissioned:	31 March 2006
Fate:	Sold to Chile
Career (Chile)
Name:	Almirante Lynch (FF-07)
Operator:	Chilean Navy
Commissioned:	28 March 2007
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate
Displacement:	4,900 tonnes
Length:	133 m (463 ft 3 in)
Beam:	16.1 m (52 ft 10 in)
Draught:	7.3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Propulsion:	CODLAG (Combined Diesel-eLectric And Gas) 2 × Rolls-Royce Spey boost gas-turbines 4 × Paxman Valenta diesel engines 2 × GEC electric motors
Speed:	28 knots (52 km/h) 15 knots (28 km/h) on diesel-electric
Range:	7,800 nautical miles (14,400 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:	185
Armament:	2 × ASuW Harpoon quad launchers Vertical launch system Sea Wolf missiles 1 × BAE 4.5 inch (113 mm) Mk 8 gun 2 × Oerlikon 30 mm guns 4 × Sting Ray torpedo tubes Seagnat and DFL3 decoy launchers
Aircraft carried:	1 × Lynx HMA8 helicopter

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Grafton.

HMS Grafton (F80) was a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. It was the ninth vessel to bear the name, and is named after the Duke of Grafton.

In 2003, the ship was used in the ITV drama series Making Waves as the fictional Royal Navy warship Suffolk. In early 2004 the ship was deployed in the Persian Gulf. In July 2004, it was announced that Grafton would be one of three Type 23 frigates to be decommissioned by the end of 2006.

In June 2005, it was announced that Grafton would be sold to the Chilean Navy . She was delivered to Chilean Navy on 28 March 2007 in Portsmouth and renamed Almirante Lynch (FF-07).

During her service in the Royal Navy, her crew were awarded the freedom of the Borough of Ipswich, due to their frequent visits to the Suffolk Town of Ipswich.

HMS Grafton after renaming as Almirante Lynch (FF-07) prior to delivery to the Chilean Navy