Built as a type 23 Guided missile frigate of the Duke class under yard No 136 by Swan Hunter in Wallsend for the Royal Navy.
04 April 1991 laid down.
04 April 1992 launched as the HMS NORTHHUMBERLAND , christened by Lady Kerr, named after the Duke of Northhumberland.
Displacement: 3,500 standard, 4,200 tons full load. Dim. 133 x 16.1 x 7.4m. (draught).
Powered by CODLAG (combined Diesel electric and gas), 2 x Rolls-Royce Spey boost gasturbines, 31.100 shp. 4 x Paxman Valenta diesel engines 2,025 shp. each. Twin shaft speed 28 knots. 15 knots when only on diesel engines. Range 7,800 miles by a speed of 15 knots.
Armament: 2 – quadruple Harpoon launchers total 8 harpoons. 1 – Sea Wolf GWS 26 VLS total 32 missiles. 2 – twin 12.75 inch torpedo tubes for Stingray ASW torpedoes, total 24 torpedoes.
1 – 4.5 inch Mk 8 DP gun. 2 – DS 30B 30mm AA guns. 2 – CIWS.
Crew 185.
29 September 1994 commissioned, homeport Devonport.
Over two tonnes of cocaine (with a street-value of £135 million) were seized in November 1999 in the Caribbean Sea by NORTHUMBERLAND, in cooperation with a United States Coast Guard law enforcement detachment.
2004/05 refit
From July 2004 to July 2005 she underwent an extensive refit at Number 1 dock inner at Babcock's dockyard in Rosyth, her first refit since build. This equipped her with an updated suite of weapons and sensors (e.g. a modified 4.5" Gun and the latest Low Frequency Active Sonar) and of propulsion and mechanical systems. Improvements were also made to the living quarters and a state of the art galley to feed the Ship's Company. Large areas of corroded deck have also been replaced. Also replaced were corroded areas of the flight deck, improving the lighting system that the pilots will use during night landings and installing a new helicopter handling system to move a 13 ton Merlin helicopter safely in and out of the hangar. (Although the Type 23 was originally designed to operate the Merlin, Northumberland had previously only hosted the much smaller Lynx.) This means she will not need another refit until 2010-2011.
2005-present
She rejoined the fleet by her attendance of "Bruno" at the Trafalgar 200 celebrations entertainment Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then embarked for her first period of sea training, starting with BOST (Basic Operational Sea Training) in January 2006, straight after the Christmas leave period. For a time during 2006 she then accompanied the submarine HMS TORBAY on her deployment to the US AUTEC (Acoustic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Centre) which is based on Andros Island in the Bahamas. She returned from an 8 month deploment December 2010 on anti-piracy operations in the Gulf. Foiling many pirate hijacks on the worlds shipping. Reducing the number of overall pirated vessels in the months deployed.
2011 In service.
Ascension Island 1997 65p sg712, scott672
Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Northumberland_(F238) The Encyclopedia of Warships.