ALMIRANTE LYNCH was laid down as HMS GRAFTON on 13 May 1993 and launched on 5
November 1994. Commissioned into the Royal Navy on 29 May 1997.
HMS GRAFTON was a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. It was the ninth vessel to
bear the name and is named after the Duke of Grafton.
In 2003 the ship was used in the ITV drama series Making Waves as the fictional
Royal Navy warship HMS SUFFOLK. In early 2004 the ship was deployed in the
Persian Gulf. In July 2004, it was announced that HMS GRAFTON would be one of
three Type 23 frigates to be decommissioned by the end of 2006.
In June 2005, it was announced that HMS GRAFTON would be sold to the Chilean
Navy . She was delivered to Chilean Navy on 28 March 2007 in Portsmouth and
renamed ALMIRANTE LYNCH (FF-07).
Builder: Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow, Scotland.
Laid down: 13 May 1993
Launched: 5 November 1994
Commissioned: 29 May 1997
Decommissioned: 31 March 2006
General characteristics
Class and type: 'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate
Displacement: 4,900 tonnes
Length: 133 m (463 ft 3 in)
Beam: 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in)
Draught: 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Propulsion: CODLAG (Combined Diesel-electric And Gas)
2 × Rolls-Royce Spey boost gas-turbines
4 × Paxman Valenta diesel engines
2 × GEC electric motors
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h)
15 knots (28 km/h) on diesel-electric
Range: 7,800 nautical miles (14,400 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 185
Armament: 2 × ASuW Harpoon quad launchers
Vertical launch system Sea Wolf missiles
1 × BAE 4.5 inch (113 mm) Mk 8 gun
2 × Oerlikon 30 mm guns
4 × Sting Ray torpedo tubes
Seagnat and DFL3 decoy launchers
Aircraft carried: 1 × Lynx HMA8 helicopter
Chile 2010, $4.30, sg?, scott?
Sources: Wikipedia. Combat Fleets of the World 2005 – 2006.
Peter Crichton