HMS Eskimo (F119)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Eskimo
Operator:	Royal Navy
Builder:	J. Samuel White
Laid down:	22 October 1958
Launched:	20 March 1960
Commissioned:	21 February 1963
Decommissioned:	August 1980
Identification:	F 119
Motto:	Sikumi Ungaskitumi ("Fire and Ice")
Fate:	Scrapped in 1992
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tribal-class frigate
Displacement:	2,300 long tons (2,300 t) standard 2,700 long tons (2,700 t) full load
Length:	360 ft 0 in (109.73 m) oa 350 ft 0 in (106.68 m) pp
Beam:	42 ft 3 in (12.88 m)
Draught:	13 ft 3 in (4.04 m) 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) (propellers)[1]
Propulsion:	Single-shaft COSAG 1 Steam turbine 12,500 shp (9,300 kW) 1 Metrovick G-6 gas turbine 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) (COSAG)
Range:	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	253
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar type 965 air-search Radar type 993 low-angle search Radar type 978 navigation Radar type 903 gunnery fire-control Radar type 262 GWS-21 fire-control Sonar type 177 search Sonar type 170 attack Sonar type 162 bottom profiling Ashanti and Gurkha; Sonar type 199 variable-depth
Armament:	2 × single 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 5* Mod 1 guns 2 × single 40 mm Mark 7 Bofors guns, later; 2 × four-rail GWS-20 Sea Cat missile systems 2 × single 20 mm Oerlikon guns 1 × Mark 10 Limbo ASW mortar
Aircraft carried:	1 × Westland Wasp helicopter

HMS Eskimo was a Tribal-class frigate of the Royal Navy in service from 1963 to 1980. She was scrapped in 1992.

Eskimo was built by J. Samuel White, of Cowes,^[2] at a cost of £4,670,000.^[3] The frigate was launched on 20 March 1960 and commissioned on 21 February 1963 with the pennant number F119.^[2]

Service

Eskimo began her third commission in October 1966. In 1967, Eskimo transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, with which the ship took part in a number of port visits and exercises. In June, Eskimo replaced her sistership Ashanti off Aden in response to the start of the Six-Day War.^[4] In 1968 she took part in Portsmouth 'Navy Days'.^[5]

In 1976, Eskimo served as the West Indies Guardship. She escorted Queen Elizabeth II aboard Britannia as part of America's Bi-Centennial celebrations. Eskimo returned to the Caribbean in 1977.

Due to a manpower shortage in the Royal Navy,^[6] Eskimo was reduced to the reserve in 1980, being placed into the Standby Squadron, and in 1981 was put on the disposal list.^[7] In 1984 she was cannibalised for spare parts for three Tribal-class frigates sold to Indonesia. On 16 January 1986, Eskimo was towed from Portsmouth to Pembroke Dock to be used as a target, but was not used as such. In May 1992 she was towed from Pembroke to Bilbao, Spain to be scrapped.^[8]

Commanding officers

References

Publications

• Blackman, Raymond V.B. Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1971. ISBN 0 354 00096 9.
• 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. OCLC 67375475. 
• Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger (1995), Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1947-1995, Conway Maritime Press, London, ISBN 978-0-8517-7605-7.
• Marriott, Leo, 1983. Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983, Ian Allen Ltd. ISBN 07110 1322 5

Tribal-class frigates
Royal Navy	Ashanti Eskimo Gurkha Nubian Tartar Mohawk Zulu
Indonesian Navy	Martha Kristina Tiyahahu (ex-Zulu) Wilhelmus Zakarias Yohannes (ex-Gurkha) Hasanuddin (ex-Tartar)
Preceded by: Blackwood class Followed by: Type 21 frigates
List of frigates of the Royal Navy