HMS ''Armada'' was a of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

(RN). She was named in honour of the English victory over the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

in 1588. ''Armada'' was built by

Hawthorn Leslie and Company R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was formed ...

on the Tyne. She was launched on 9 December 1943 and commissioned on 2 July 1945.

Royal Navy service

In 1945, ''Armada'' joined the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...

but did not see action during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The following year, as part of the

19th Destroyer Flotilla 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics Nineteen is the eighth prime number. Number theory 19 forms a twin prime with 17, a cousin prime with 23, and a sexy prime with 13. ...

, ''Armada'' deployed to the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

, performing a variety of duties while based there, and the following year, ''Armada'', with the rest of the 19th Flotilla, returned home to the UK, visiting a variety of ports on the way, mainly on 'fly-the-flag' visits. Upon reaching the UK, ''Armada'' was placed in Reserve. In 1949, ''Armada'' joined the

3rd Destroyer Flotilla The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951. History In 1907 the Channel Fleet had a large Channel Flotilla of destroyers in Fe ...

, deploying to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

as part of that flotilla. In 1950, ''Armada'', while still based in the Mediterranean, was involved in a collision. ''Armada'' remained in the sunny climes of the Mediterranean until returning home to the UK with the rest of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla. In 1956, ''Armada'' was in the area during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

in 1956, which took place in response to the Egyptian President

Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

's nationalisation of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. She subsequently returned to home waters when she, now Captain (D) of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, meaning that she was the leader of the flotilla, joined the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

. In June, 1958 Armada provided escort for the Royal Yacht whilst the Queen visited North East England. Following this she steamed anti clockwise around Scotland and proceeded into the Mediterranean and then onto to the conflict in Cyprus patrolling up and down the west coast to prevent arms smuggling.

Decommissioning and fate

In 1960, ''Armada'' was decommissioned, and in 1965, she was sold to

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, business primarily working steel, engineering and cement. It began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture ...

for scrapping at

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; ) is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline. A town of ancient origin, Inverke ...

References

Publications

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armada (D14) Battle-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Tyne 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom