28 September 2011

Navy ship HMS Southampton sold to scrapyard:

HMS Southampton (D90): launched in 1979 and decommissioned in 2009
A ROYAL Navy ship named after Southampton is destined for the scrapyard.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that Type 42 Destroyer HMS Southampton, currently based at Whale Island, Portsmouth, has been sold.

The warship was decommissioned in 2009 and will head to a scrapyard in Turkey next week to be broken up by Leyal Ship Recycling.

HMS Southampton was sold to the company with two other destroyers – HMS Exeter and HMS Nottingham – for an undisclosed sum.

It’s understood the ships have a combined weight of around 24,000 tonnes of steel – worth more than £2m in scrap.

An MoD spokesman said: “The decision to select Leyal was made because the company’s bid gave us the best financial return.”

HMS Southampton was made by Vosper Thornycroft in Woolston in 1984.

Type 42 Destroyer HMS Southampton dressed overall in preparation the 2005 International Fleet Review
She was deployed to the Falklands, and was also involved in the seizing of 3.5 tonnes of cocaine in the Caribbean in February 2006.

It’s understood she will take around a month to reach Leyal’s scrapyard in Izmir, Turkey, where she will be broken up for her steel to be recycled.

The MoD is yet to confirm which day HMS Southampton will leave the south coast next week, as it will depend on the weather and tides.

Source: Daily Echo. By Bethan Phillips. 27 September 2011

Career (UK):      
Name: HMS Southampton
Operator: Royal Navy
Ordered: 17 March 1976[1]
Builder: Vosper Thornycroft

Laid down: 21 October 1976
Launched:  29 January 1979
Commissioned: 31 October 1981
Decommissioned:        12 February 2009

Homeport: HMNB Portsmouth
Motto: Pro jusititus pro Rege ("For justice and the Queen")
Nickname: "The Mighty Ninety" (after her pennant number).

Honours and awards: Emeraude 1757, Belle Isle 1761, The Glorious First of June 1794, St Vincent 1797, Heligoland 1914, Dogger Bank 1915, Jutland 1916, Norway 1940, Spartivento 1940, Malta Convoys 1941
Status: Decommissioned (in 2009)

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