HMS Broadsword (F88)

HMS "Broadsword" (F88) was the lead ship and first Batch 1 unit of the Type 22 frigates of the Royal Navy.

ervice

While on sea trials, "Broadsword" was called into service as the command ship during the large rescue operation required after storms struck the 1979 Fastnet race [Rousmaniere, John. "Fastnet, The Deadliest Storm in the History of Modern Sailing". Norton (1993). ISBN 978-0-393-30865-5] .

"Broadsword" took part in the 1982 Falklands War where, on 25 May 1982, she was providing air defence support to HMS "Coventry". A technical fault in her Sea Wolf missile system allowed two Argentine Skyhawks to sink the "Coventry". [Hart Dyke, David. "Four Weeks in May: The Loss of "HMS Coventry". Atlantic Books (2007). ISBN 978-1843545903] "Broadsword" was hit by one bomb, which bounced up through the helicopter deck and put out of action a Lynx helicopter, before exiting and exploding harmlessly. She subsequently rescued 170 of the sunken "Coventry's" crew.

She shot down one IAI Dagger during the war [Argentine air forces in the Falklands War] .

She was decommissioned on 31 March 1995 and was sold to the Brazilian Navy on 30 June 1995 and renamed "Greenhalgh".

References

External links

* [http://www.hmsbroadsword.co.uk Broadsword Association]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~broadsword82/ HMS Broadsword Falklands 82]