HMS ''York'' was a Batch III Type 42

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

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 ...

. Launched on 20 June 1982 at

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

and sponsored by Lady Gosling, ''York'' was the last Type 42 ordered. The ship's crest was the White Rose of York, and the "red cross with lions passant" funnel badge was derived from the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the

City of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

. With a maximum speed of , she was the Royal Navy's fastest destroyer.

Operational history

1985-1990

In the summer of 1990, HMS ''York'' was serving on a routine patrol in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

as part of The Armilla Patrol which had been undertaken by a series of Royal Navy warships over many years. On 2 August that year,

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's forces invaded Kuwait. Instead of heading off 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 ...

and Australia for series of "waving the flag" port visits, she remained on patrol in the Persian Gulf for an extra three months. This period was conducted when at sea mostly on a war-ready footing, involving virtually everyone onboard working Defence Watches (basically six hours on, six off) round the clock.

1990-2000

Following refit at Rosyth, York rededicated on 30 June 1995 and then worked up to full readiness undertaking operational sea training and a JMC. She then deployed to the Far East and Middle East with visits to Malaysia, Bangladesh, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

2001-2010

In 2001, she tested a

RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, UAE, and United States navies. It wa ...

. 2002 York deployed early in January in response to the 9-11 bombings. She relieved HMS Southampton which was part of a large exercises in the med and gulf that had been cancelled and diverted to take up station in the Gulf. As Southampton had already been away for several months York sailed and took over so she could return to the UK. Whilst on the deployment the ship visit Salala oman, Dubai, Mumbai India, Gibraltar, Greece and Crete with the ships company enjoying some well earned rest in Kavos on the way home. York arrived back into Portsmouth in June. In 2003, ''York'' took part in the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

providing air cover and area protection for the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. In 2004, she was fitted with the MOD 1 variant of the mark 8 4.5-inch gun. She and were the only two Type 42s to be so fitted. In July 2006, ''York'' joined in evacuating British citizens from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

making several trips in and out of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, ferrying evacuees to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. In February 2010, ''York'' and the auxiliary were deployed to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

coinciding with a period of increased tensions between the United Kingdom and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

over the former's plans to begin drilling for oil in the seas surrounding the islands.

2011-2012

In February 2011, ''York'' was deployed to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

to assist in the evacuation of British nationals from

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. On 21 April 2011, ''York'' arrived at the

East Cove Military Port Mare Harbour, known colloquially as East Cove Port, is a small settlement on East Falkland, on Choiseul Sound. It is mostly used as a port facility and depot for RAF Mount Pleasant, as well as a deepwater port used by the Royal Navy ships patro ...

in the

, beginning patrol duties for the islands. On 12 December 2011, ''York'' spotted the with its carrier group northeast of

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, off the coast of northern Scotland, and shadowed the carrier for a week. This was the first time ''Admiral Kuznetsov'' had deployed near UK waters and the closest in 20 years that a Russian naval task group had deployed to the UK. She then sailed around the top of Scotland and into the Atlantic past western Ireland, where she conducted flying operations with her Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker jets and

Kamov Ka-27 The Kamov Ka-27 (NATO reporting name 'Helix') is a military helicopter developed for the Soviet Navy, and as of 2024 is in service in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, South Korea, and India. Variants include the Ka-2 ...

helicopters in international airspace. Hms_york_sea_dart

On 13 April 2012, ''Edinburgh'' fired the last ever operational

Sea Dart missile Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers, the single Type 82 destroyer and the s. Originally developed by Hawker Siddeley, t ...

s after a thirty-year career. As such ''York '' completed her career without the system being operational. ''York'' entered

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

harbour for the final time on 20 September 2012, and was decommissioned on 27 September 2012. In August 2012, the ship was put up for sale. D98-HMS-York

Affiliations

* The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot)

References

External links

Royal Navy Website: HMS York (D98)

Navy News – Ships of the Royal Navy – HMS York

YouTube Video of HMS York at full speed
{{DEFAULTSORT:York (D98) 1982 ships Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Gulf War ships of the United Kingdom History of York Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Tyne Type 42 destroyers of the Royal Navy