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Royal Navy - Guided Missile Frigate F 82 HMS Somerset |
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| 12/22 | ||
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Type,
class: Guided Missile Frigate; Type 23 / Duke class;
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant Builder: GEC Marconi Marine (YSL), Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K. STATUS: Laid down: October 12, 1992 Launched: June 25, 1994 Commissioned: September 20, 1996 IN SERVICE Homeport: HMNB Devonport Namesake: Duke of Somerset Ships Motto: FOY POUR DEVOIR (faith for duty) Technical Data: see INFO > Duke / Type 23 class Guided Missile Frigate |
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               a series of 15 photos during a port visit in Trieste, Italy as part of NATO SNMG-2 - April 2008                     |
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HMS Somerset (F 82): ... is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the eleventh ship of the class to join the fleet since 1989. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd on the River Clyde, in Scotland and was launched in June 1994 by Lady Elspeth Layard, wife of then 2nd Sea Lord Admiral and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command Admiral Sir Michael Layard. She entered service in 1996. Lady Layard is the ship's sponsor. She is named after the Dukedom of Somerset. The fourth Somerset to serve in the Royal Navy, she has inherited four battle honours from previous ships of the name; Vigo Bay (1702), Velez Malaga (1704), Louisburg (1758) and Quebec (1759). The previous ships all served during the 18th century and ensured that the name Somerset played a significant part in that period of naval history. Somerset's home port is HMNB Devonport. The ship has the Freedom of the City of Wells and is also affiliated with the County of Somerset, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, the 2nd and 4th Battalions of The Rifles (inherited from affiliation with the Royal Green Jackets), TS Weston and TS Queen Elizabeth Sea Cadet Units, Downside, Baytree and Helles Schools, Bridgwater College and the Somerset Legion House of The Royal British Legion. The 19th Duke of Somerset takes a keen interest in the ship and is a regular visitor, and the ship also hosted Harry Patch, Simon Weston (in place of Johnson Beharry) and Marcus Trescothick whilst docked at Avonmouth for a remembrance service to launch the 2008 British Legion Poppy Appeal. Service history: In 2007, the first at-sea firing trials of the UK Royal Navy's new 30mm DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun system were completed by Somerset. On 18 February 2009, Somerset sailed from Devonport as part of the Taurus 09 deployment under Commander UK Amphibious Task Group, Commodore Peter Hudson. She was joined on this deployment by landing platform dock Bulwark, as Hudson's flagship, landing platform helicopter Ocean, Type 23 frigate Argyll and four ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. In June 2009, she took part in exercise Bersama Shield with Ocean and RFA Wave Ruler off the Malay Peninsula. In May 2010 she sailed for Operation Telic conducted boarding operations and oil platform protection operations in the Persian Gulf. On 3 May 2012, she began a refit at the Devonport Royal Dockyard operated by the Babcock International Group. The refit was expected to take 9 months. She took part in Exercise Joint Warrior 2013. In January 2015, HMS Somerset took part in the search for the crew of the Cyprus-registered cement carrier Cemfjord, which had capsized in the Pentland Firth. On 23 April 2015, with the Border Force cutter Valiant, she intercepted the Tanzanian-registered tug Hamal in the North Sea about 100 miles (160 km) off Aberdeen, leading to the seizure of more than three tons of cocaine, believed to be at the time the single largest seizure of a Class A drug in the UK. In Autumn 2015, she carried out security patrols in support of the European Heads of Government meeting in Malta. In November 2015, Somerset visited Valencia - the first Royal Navy ship to do so in a number of years. While there, she met a delegation led by Juan Carlos Valderrama Zurián, the Central Government Representative for the Valencia region, and hosted a lunch to thank representatives of various Armed Forces charities for their work. In December 2015, she returned to port after performing guard duties at the 2015 CHOGM. In March 2016, as the Russian destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov, a tanker and a tug entered the United Kingdom's exclusive economic zone, they were intercepted and escorted by Somerset. Somerset was again tasked with escorting a Russian vessel in May 2017 when she monitored the Kilo-class submarine Krasnodar as it transited the English Channel. Somerset was awarded the 'Fleet Frigate Effectiveness Trophy' for 2017. A Royal Navy press release said; "HMS Somerset has been awarded the accolade for being the most successful and versatile of all of the Royal Navy’s frigates, which are widely considered to be the workhorses of the fleet." Somerset began a major upgrade in November 2018 and returned to service in March 2022. In August 2022, it was reported that the ship had suffered a "major systems failure" and had to be tied up in Rosyth for investigation and potential repair. However, pursuant to repairs, the frigate was then reported to have returned to sea later the same evening. source: wikipedia |
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Duke of Somerset ... is a title in the peerage of England that has been created several times. Derived from Somerset, it is particularly associated with two families; the Beauforts who held the title from the creation of 1448 and the Seymours, from the creation of 1547 and in whose name the title is still held. The only subsidiary title of the Duke of Somerset is Baron Seymour, which is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son and heir of the Duke. The Duke of Somerset's heir's courtesy title is the lowest in rank of all heirs to Dukedoms in the peerages of the British Isles, yet as Lord Seymour's precedence is higher than his title suggests, by virtue of the seniority of the Dukedom of Somerset (the only more senior non-royal duke is the Duke of Norfolk). Several other titles have been held by the Dukes of Somerset, but have become extinct. The ducal seat is Bradley House in Maiden Bradley, west Wiltshire, with a secondary estate at Berry Pomeroy Castle, Totnes, Devon. The principal burial place for the Seymour family today is at the Church of All Saints, adjacent to Bradley House; the church and the family cemetery can be reached from the grounds of Bradley House via private access. |
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