HMS Jaguar (F37)

HMS Jaguar (F37), was a Leopard-class Type 41 anti-aircraft frigate of the British Royal Navy, named after the jaguar. Jaguar was the last frigate built by William Denny and Brothers for the Royal Navy.[1] Unlike the rest of her class, she was fitted with controllable pitch propellers.[2]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Jaguar.

HMS Jaguar in 1963
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Jaguar
Ordered: 28 June 1951
Builder: William Denny and Brothers
Laid down: 2 November 1953
Launched: 20 July 1957
Commissioned: 12 December 1959
Identification: F37
Fate: Sold to Bangladesh 1978
General characteristics
Class and type: Leopard-class frigate
Length: 101 m (331 ft 4 in)
Beam: 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in)
Draught: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Propulsion:
  • Two type 12 E 390V diesels; 14,400 hp (10,738 kW) sustained
  • 2 shafts, Crossley Bros Ltd, Manchester
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h)
Range: 2,200 nmi (4,074 km; 2,532 mi) at 18 kn
Complement: 200 (22 (app.) officers)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Radar System:
    • Surface: 293/993
    • Air & Surface: 965
    • Navigation: 974/978
    • Fire control: 275
    • Echo Type 3 (Hull mounted)
Armament:
  • 2 × twin Mark 6 4.5 in (114 mm) guns
  • 1 × Squid A/S mortar

Royal Navy service

The main armament originally consisted of two twin 4.5 in guns Mark 6 plus one twin STAAG mounting, which was soon replaced by a 40 mm gun.[3] She was refitted in the mid-1960s, replacing the Type 960 long-range air warning radar with Type 965. The lattice mainmast was replaced by a plated structure to support the heavier AKE1 aerial used by the Type 965. The Type 293Q target designation radar on the foremast was replaced by a Type 993. New ESM and SCCM equipment was installed on the foremast. It was intended that Seacat missile would replace the 40 mm gun but this was not done to save money.[4]

HMS Jaguar after she was refitted with Type 965 radar

Jaguar sailed from Chatham United Kingdom in January 1969 and undertook a world cruise calling at Gibraltar, South Africa, Mombasa, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Fiji, Tonga, Raratonga, Tahiti, Pitcairn, Panama and Florida. During this cruise she provided medical aid at Astove, in the Seychelles.[5] She arrived back in the UK in December 1969 and was deployed to Icelandic waters for the Second Cod War in 1973.[4] On 10 September 1973, she collided with the Icelandic gunboat Thor (Þór),[6] and had her bows damaged.[7] She spent the rest of the month on dry dock for repairs at Chatham.[8] She was then assigned to the standby squadron but was recommissioned in 1976 for service in Icelandic waters again for the Third Cod War.[4] To protect her bows and stern from damage from collisions with Icelandic gunboats, she was fitted with heavy wooden sheathing.[9]

Bangladesh Navy service

After a spell in reserve, she was sold on 6 July 1978 to the Bangladesh Navy for £2 million and commissioned in 1978 as BNS Ali Haider (F17).[4][10][1][11] Ali Haider served as a training ship.[1] She was decommissioned during a ceremony held in her home port of Chittagong on 22 January 2014.[12] Name and number were taken by one of the two former Chinese Jianghu III-class frigates which reportedly had already begun their transfer voyage.

See also

References
  1. Bangladesh Military Force Leopard Class Patrol Frigate last accessed 21 December 2010. Note that the BdMilitary web-page appears to have the dates the Ali Haider and Abu Bakr were commissioned into the Bangladeshi Navy transposed.
  2. Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Frigates since 1945, 2nd Edition, pub Ian Allan, 1990, ISBN 0-7110-1915-0 page 54.
  3. Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Frigates since 1945, 2nd Edition, page 55. The photograph on page 55 shows Jaguar with the Type 960 and 293Q radars and without STAAG in 1964 – before her mid-60s refit.
  4. Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Frigates since 1945, 2nd Edition, page 56.
  5. Royal Navy post-World War 2 CHRONOLOGY, Part 3 - 1961–70, by Geoffrey B Mason, Lieutenant Commander, RN (Rtd), 2007
  6. The National Archives - Piece reference ADM 330/80
  7. "Ships collide off Iceland". Associated Press. 10 September 1973. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  8. Boniface, Patrick (2006). Cats and Cathedrals. Periscope Publishing Ltd. p. 141. ISBN 1904381359.
  9. Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Frigates since 1945, 2nd Edition, pages 56–57.
  10. Gardiner, Robert Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995, pub Conway Maritime Press, 1995, ISBN 0-85177-605-1 page 23.
  11. Gardiner, Robert Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995, page 516.
  12. "BNS Abu Bakar, BNS Ali Haider de-commissioned". Dhaka Tribune. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.

Publications
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Critchley, Mike (1992). British Warships Since 1945: Part 5: Frigates. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Press. ISBN 0-907771-13-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Marriott, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

See also
  • List of ships of the Bangladesh Navy
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