HMS Battleaxe (F89)
{{short description|1980 Type 22 or Broadsword-class frigate of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Battleaxe}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2018}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Fragata Rademaker (F49). (52135586597).jpg | Ship caption = Brazilian Rademaker in 2022 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name = Battleaxe | Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Yarrow Shipbuilders | Ship yard number = | Ship laid down = 4 February 1976 | Ship launched = 18 May 1977 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 28 March 1980 | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = 30 August 1996 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = | Ship motto = | Ship identification = Pennant number: F89 | Ship nickname = | Ship honours = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Sold to Brazil 30 April 1997 | Ship status = | Ship notes = | Ship badge = | Ship namesake = Battleaxe }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Brazil | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Brazil|naval}} | Ship name = Rademaker | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = | Ship motto = | Ship identification = *{{MMSI Number|710411000}}
| Ship nickname = | Ship honours = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = | Ship status = In active service | Ship notes = | Ship badge = | Ship namesake = August Rademaker }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Type 22 frigate | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = 4,400 tons | Ship length = {{convert|131.2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|14.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = {{convert|6.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship hold depth = | Ship propulsion = *2 shafts, COGOG
| Ship speed = {{convert|30|kn}} max | Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship boats = | Ship capacity = | Ship complement = 222 | Ship troops = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = *2 × triple torpedo tubes for Mk 46 torpedoes
| Ship armour = | Ship aircraft = 2 × Lynx MK 8 helicopters | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
HMS Battleaxe was a Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. She was sold to the Brazilian Navy on 30 April 1997 and renamed Rademaker.
Construction and design
Battleaxe was ordered by the British Admiralty on 4 September 1974, as the second Batch I Type 22 Frigate. The ship was laid down at Yarrow Shipbuilders' Scotstoun shipyard on 4 February 1976,{{harvnb|Friedman|2008|p=339}} and was launched by Audrey Callaghan, the wife of James Callaghan, the Prime Minister at the time, on 18 May 1977.{{cite news|title=Battleaxe Launched|newspaper=Navy News|date=June 1977|page=2|url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/197706|access-date=17 October 2018}} Battleaxe was completed on 28 March 1980.
Battleaxe was {{convert|131.2|m|ftin}} long overall and {{convert|125.7|m|ftin}} at the waterline, with a beam of {{convert|14.8|m|ftin}} and a draught of {{convert|6.1|m|ftin}}. Displacement was {{convert|4000|LT|t|lk=on}} standard and {{convert|4400|LT|t}} deep load. She was powered by two Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines rated at a total of {{convert|54600|shp|kW|lk=in}} and two Rolls-Royce Tyne R1MC turbines rated at a total of {{convert|9700|shp|kW}}, driving two shafts in a Combined gas or gas (COGOG) arrangement. They gave a speed of {{convert|30|kn|lk=in}} when powered by the Olympuses and {{convert|18|kn}} when powered by the Tynes. The ship had a range of {{convert|4500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|18|kn}}.{{Harvnb|Gardiner|Chumbley|1995|p=523}}
Anti-aircraft armament consisted of two sextuple Sea Wolf surface-to-air missile launchers, one forward of the bridge, and one on the roof of the helicopter hangar. Four Exocet MM-38 anti-ship missiles were fitted on the forecastle. Gun armament was limited to a pair of Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 guns, mainly for peacetime patrol duties. A hangar and flight deck was fitted aft, allowing the ship to operate two Westland Lynx helicopters, which could carry anti-submarine torpedoes, while close-in anti-submarine armament was two triple STWS-1 {{convert|324|mm|in|adj=on}} torpedo tubes.{{Harvnb|Marriott|1983|pp=105–107}}
Operational history
=Royal Navy=
Battleaxe was at Gibraltar on 24 March 1982, as part of Exercise "Springtrain 82",{{Harvnb|Critchley|1992|p=142}}{{Harvnb|Marriott|1983|p=112}} but when the Falklands War broke out in April that year, she, unlike sister ships {{HMS|Broadsword|F88|2}} and {{HMS|Brilliant|F90|2}}, did not deploy to the South Atlantic as she was suffering from problems with her propeller shafts.{{Harvnb|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=83}} Battleaxe did deploy to the South Atlantic shortly after the end of the war, however, escorting the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Illustrious|R06|2}}, leaving Devonport on 2 August, reaching the vicinity of the Falklands on 24 August and returning to Britain on 19 November.{{Harvnb|Burden|Draper|Rough|Smith|1986|p=436}} She was deployed to the South Atlantic again from July 1983 to December 1983. On 2 July 1988, Battleaxe rescued the stricken sailors from the yacht Dalriada, which had sunk after colliding with the submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|2}}'s periscope.{{cite hansard|house=House of Commons |title=Written Answers (Commons): Defence: HMS Conqueror (Collision) |date=21 July 1988 |volume=137 |column_start=722W |column_end=723W|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/21/hms-conqueror-collision}}
Battleaxe was deployed on the Armilla patrol, the Royal Navy's standing deployment in the Persian Gulf in August 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait.{{cite news |title=Key Role in Crisis: Gulf build-up gets moving |newspaper=Navy News |date=September 1990 |pages=1, 40 |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/199009 |access-date=23 April 2020}}{{cite news |title=Tasks change as tensions mount |newspaper=Navy News |date=September 1990 |page=19 |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/199009 |access-date=23 April 2020}} She returned to Plymouth in November 1990.{{cite news |title=Two more MCMs for the Gulf |newspaper=Navy News |date=December 1990 |page=40 |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/199012 |access-date=23 April 2020}}
=Brazil=
File:F 49 - Rademaker (7203194772).jpg
File:Mansup (13-09-2024).gif anti-ship missile in September 2024]]
Rademaker was involved in an unfortunate incident on 29 November 2004, during the annual FRATERNO naval exercise with ships of the Argentinian Navy. While conducting gunnery practice against target drones, a malfunction of the Argentinian frigate {{ship|ARA|Sarandí|D-13|6}}'s automatic weapons system caused her to fire on Rademaker; four Brazilian crewmen were injured together with an Argentine naval observer. The ship suffered moderate damage.
Also in 2004, Rademaker deployed to Port-au-Prince, as part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. In April 2017, Rademaker was involved in the search for the missing bulk carrier {{ship||Stellar Daisy}} after she disappeared in the Atlantic.{{cite web|title=Marinha do Brasil realiza busca por sobreviventes de navio mercante naufragado|website=Poder Naval|date=8 April 2017|language=Portuguese|url=http://www.naval.com.br/blog/2017/04/08/marinha-do-brasil-realiza-busca-por-sobreviventes-de-navio-mercante-naufragado/|access-date=17 October 2018}} Rademaker joined the international efforts to locate the missing Argentine submarine {{ship|ARA|San Juan|S-42|2}} in November 2017.{{cite news|last=Cagni|first=Patrícia|title=Marinha e FAB contabilizam 325 horas de buscas a submarino argentine: Mais de 500 homens participam da operação, em três embarcações e duas aeronaves|website=O Globo|date=17 November 2017|language=Portuguese|url=https://oglobo.globo.com/mundo/marinha-fab-contabilizam-325-horas-de-buscas-submarino-argentino-22106756|access-date=17 October 2018}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Publications
{{Commons and category|HMS Battleaxe (F89)|HMS Battleaxe (F89)}}
- {{cite book|last1=Burden|first1=Rodney A.|last2=Draper |first2=Michael I. |last3=Rough |first3=Douglas A. |last4=Smith |first4=Colin R. |last5=Wilton |first5=David |title=Falklands: The Air War| year=1986 |publisher=British Aviation Research Group |isbn=0-906339-05-7}}
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book|last=Critchley |first=Mike |title=British Warships Since 1945: Part 5: Frigates|year=1992| publisher=Maritime Press|location=Liskeard, UK|isbn=0-907771-13-0}}
- {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After|year=2008|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-015-4}}
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Chumbley|editor2-first=Stephen|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995|year=1995|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland, USA|isbn=1-55750-132-7}}
- {{cite book |last1=Hastings |first1=Max |last2=Jenkins |first2=Simon |title=The Battle for the Falklands |year=1983 |location=London |publisher=Book Club Associates }}
- {{cite book|last=Marriott|first=Leo|year=1983 |title=Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983|publisher=Ian Allan Ltd|location=Shepperton, Surrey, UK |isbn= 0-7110-1322-5}}
{{Type 22 frigate}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battleaxe (F89)}}
Category:Ships built on the River Clyde
Category:Type 22 frigates of the Royal Navy