HMS Alacrity (F174)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Alacrity
Operator:	Royal Navy
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Commissioned:	2 July 1977
Decommissioned:	1 March 1994
Identification:	Pennant number: F174
Motto:	Adjuvero propero (Latin: "I hasten to help")
Fate:	Sold to Pakistan on 1 March 1994
Pakistan
Name:	PNS Badr
Operator:	Pakistan Navy
Acquired:	1 March 1994
Status:	Decommissioned
General characteristics
Class and type:	Type 21 frigate
Displacement:	3,250 tons full load
Length:	384 ft (117 m)
Beam:	41 ft 9 in (12.73 m)
Draught:	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion:	COGOG: 2 × Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbines 2 × Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1A gas turbines for cruising
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range:	4,000 nautical miles at 17 knots (7,400 km at 31 km/h) 1,200 nautical miles at 30 knots (2,220 km at 56 km/h)
Complement:	177
Armament:	RN: 1 × 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 8 naval gun 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 4 × MM38 Exocet missiles 1 × quadruple Sea Cat SAMs 2 × triple ASW torpedo tubes 2 × Corvus chaff launchers 1 × Type 182 towed decoy Pakistan: 1 × 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 8 naval gun 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 1 × LY 60N missile launcher 2 × triple ASW torpedo tubes 2 × Mark 36 SRBOC chaff launchers 1 × Type 182 towed decoy
Aircraft carried:	1 × Westland Wasp helicopter, later refitted for 1 × Lynx

HMS Alacrity was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, she was completed with Exocet launchers in "B" position. Alacrity served with the Royal Navy from completion until 1994, and was active during the Falklands War of 1982. She served in the Pakistan Navy till May 2014 as PNS Badr. She was decommissioned recently.

Royal Navy service

In 1977, Alacrity took part in the Fleet Review, of the Royal Navy at Spithead in celebration of HM the Queen's Silver Jubilee.^[1] Alacrity participated in the Falklands War, departing Devonport on 5 April 1982. She was commanded at the time by Commander Christopher Craig.

The most notable incident involving Alacrity was the sinking of the Argentine supply ship ARA Isla de los Estados by gunfire over the night of 10–11 May 1982, near Swan Islands. At the time, Alacrity was on a mission to establish whether or not the Argentines had mined the north entrance to Falkland Sound.^[2] Alacrity was slightly damaged by splinters from an Argentine bomb on 1 May.

As Alacrity left the Falkland Sound on 11 May, the Argentine submarine, San Luis was reported to have fired two torpedoes at Alacrity and her sister ship Arrow. Both missed, and the ships rejoined the task force.

As with the other surviving Type 21 frigates, Alacrity was suffering from cracking in her hull by the mid-1980s. She was taken in for refitting, and a steel plate was welded down each side of the ship. At the same time modifications were made to reduce hull noise.

In 1989 whilst deployed as West Indies Guard Ship "Alacrity" was tasked for humanitarian relief on the island of Montserrat in the British West Indies after the island suffered devastation in the wake of hurricane "Hugo". The ship's Lynx helicopter being the sole means of transporting aid ashore as the port was destroyed.

Pakistan Navy service

Alacrity was decommissioned and transferred to Pakistan on 1 March 1994, being renamed Badr. Exocet was not transferred to Pakistan and Badr had her obsolete Sea Cat launcher removed. A Chinese LY 60N missile launcher was fitted in place of the Exocet launchers. Signaal DA08 air search radar replaced the Type 992 and SRBOC chaff launchers and 20 mm and 30 mm guns were fitted.

Badr was decommissioned in 2014 by the Pakistan Navy. Between 11–21 May 2008, Badr participated in Exercise Inspired Union, a multi-national exercises in the North Arabian Sea. Other Pakistani warships included the frigate Shah Jahan and the replenishment tanker Nasr, as well as the Pakistan Air Force explosive ordnance disposal team, and the American destroyers Curts and Ross.^[3]

Commanding officers

From	To	Captain
1976	1978	Commander R B Mortlock RN
1978	1979	Commander A J Bannister RN
1980	1982	Commander C J S Craig DSC RN
1982	1983	Commander B B Perowne RN
1983	1985	Commander M A Johnson RN
1985	1986	Commander J H S McAnally RN
1987	1989	Commander R P Barton RN
1989	1990	Commander C D Ferbrache RN
1990	1992	Commander A R C Bennett DSC RN
1992	1994	Commander A Croke RN

References

1. Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO
2. One Hundred Days, Admiral Sandy Woodward, Pages 280 and 281. ISBN 978-0-00-713467-0
3. Lt. (j.g.) Bryan Boggs, USN (6 June 2008). "USS Curts, Pakistani Navy Participate in Officer Exchange Program". NNS080602-12. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs. Retrieved 27 December 2010.

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. OCLC 67375475.