HMS Coventry (D118)
| [1] | | Career | |
|---|
| Ordered: |
| Laid down: | 29 January 1973 |
| Launched: | 21 June 1974 |
| Commissioned: | 20 October 1978 |
| Fate: | Sunk by Argentine aircraft on 25 May 1982. |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 4,820 tonnes |
| Length: | 125 m (410 ft) |
| Beam: | 14.3 m (47 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.8 m |
| Propulsion: | COGAG (Combined Gas and Gas) turbines, 2 shafts
2 turbines producing 36 MW |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: |
| Complement: | 287 |
| Armament: | Sea Dart missiles
114 mm (4.5 in) Mk 8 gun |
| Aircraft: | Lynx HAS1 |
| Motto: |
HMS Coventry (D118) was a
Type 42 destroyer of the
Royal Navy laid down by Cammell Laird and Company, Limited, at
Birkenhead on
29 January 1973, launched on
21 June 1974 and commissioned on
20 October 1978.
Coventry participated in the
Falklands War in 1982 where she became the first
Royal Navy warship to fire the
Sea Dart and
Sea Skua missiles in action.
Coventry was struck by three bombs from an enemy
Argentine aircraft,
capsized and sank off the
Falkland Islands on
25 May 1982 with the loss of 19 of her crew. Her weapons had managed to shoot down two of her attackers earlier in the day, but at a crucial moment during a later attack, her anti-aircraft missile system suffered a fault and locked down, allowing the remaining aircraft an opportunity to hit her.
The 19 sailors killed in the sinking of
HMS Coventry.
* Marine Engineering Mechanic Frank O. Armes
* Chief Weapons Engineering Artificer John D. L. Caddy
* Marine Engineering Artificer Paul B. Callus
* Weapons Engineering Mechanic John K. Dobson
* Petty Officer Michael G. Fowler
* Weapons Engineering Mechanic Ian P. Hall
* Lieutenant Rodney R. Heath
* Laundryman Kye Ben Kwo
* Weapons Engineering Artificer David J. A. Ozbirn
* Lieutenant Commander Glen S. Robinson-Moltke
* Leading Radio Operator Bernard J. Still
* Marine Engineering Artificer Geoffrey L. J. Stockwell
* Weapons Engineering Artificer David A. Strickland
* Able Seaman Adrian D. Sunderland
* Marine Engineering Mechanician Stephen Tonkin
* Cook Ian Turnbull
* Weapons Engineering Artificer Philip P. White
* Weapons Engineering Artificer Ian R. Williams
Additionally, one member of the crew died from a tumour a year later - caused by skull fracture sustained in the attack:
* Marine Engineering Mechanic Paul T. Mills
A memorial cross was erected on
Pebble Island after the war. The wrecksite is a controlled site under the
Protection of Military Remains Act. A memorial website also exists:
*
HMS Coventry D118 See
HMS Coventry for other ships to bear the name.
