CUMBERLAND HMS (F 85) In margin of sheet

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In 2001 Zambia issued a miniature sheet to commemorate the Centenary of the Royal Navy Submarine Service. There are 6 stamps showing submarines and in the margins are 3 more submarines, an aircraft carrier and a frigate – No 85. This corresponds to HMS CUMBERLAND F 85.

HMS CUMBERLAND has a very proud heritage. There have been a total of 16 ships with the name: the 1st was commissioned in 1695, during the reign of William III; the present Ship entered service in 1989. CUMBERLANDs have seen action all over the world; from the Baltic to the East Indies; from the Mediterranean to the River Plate, it is a name synonymous with the Royal Navy.

HMS CUMBERLAND is the second of four Batch 3 Type 22 frigates and the sixteenth ship of the name. CUMBERLAND was built on the Clyde by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd and subsequently commissioned in her base port of Devonport in June 1989. On commissioning she became part of the Sixth Frigate Squadron (F6).

On 26 September 2000, CUMBERLAND worked with local fishermen to aid the rescue of survivors of the Greek ferry Express Samina which ran aground two miles off the island of Paros.

In 2003, HMS CUMBERLAND (in partnership with RFA Wave Knight) seized 3.6 tonnes of cocaine in the mid-Atlantic as part of an anti-drug operation. In October 2005 HMS CUMBERLAND intercepted and boarded a speed boat in the Caribbean Sea off Nicaragua from which they seized two tonnes of cocaine, and detained four suspects. The cocaine is estimated to have a street value of £200 million.

On 18 May 2006, the CUMBERLAND escorted Dee Caffari, sailing Aviva, across the finish-line (at Lizard Point) as she became the first woman to sail single-handedly non-stop around the world "the wrong way" (against the prevailing wind and tide) - a feat first achieved by Chay Blyth.

In October 2008, HMS CUMBERLAND (F85) was assigned to anti-piracy duties along with 6 other ships as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2). As part of her duties in SNMG2, on 11 November 2008, HMS CUMBERLAND went to the aid of a Danish vessel that had come under attack from pirates. The pirates opened fire on two of CUMBERLAND's launches; 3 pirates died when the Royal Marines returned fire on the dhow.

HMS CUMBERLAND sailed from Plymouth on 25 May 2009 and returned to the UK in December 2009. She was part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, which is a multinational task force operating under the Combined Maritime Force in the region that conducts Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in and around the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

HMS CUMBERLAND was built by Yarrow (Shipbuilders) on the River Clyde, Scotland. She was laid down on 12 October 1984, launched on 21 June 1986 and entered service on 10 June 1989.

She was one of 14 Type 22 frigates of which only 4 remain in Service with the Royal Navy. They were built in 3 batches and HMS CUMBERLAND came from batch 3.

D: 4,280 tons (4,850 fl) S: 30 kts (18 kts on Tyne gas turbines)
Dim: 148.10 (135.65 pp) × 14.75 × 5.35 hull (6.40 max.)
A: 8 RGM-84C Harpoon SSM; 2 6-round Sea Wolf GWS.25 Mod. 3 SAM systems; 1 114-mm 55-cal. Vickers Mk 8 (F 85 Mk 8 Mod. 1) DP; 1 30-mm Goalkeeper CIWS; 2 single 30-mm 75-cal. DES-30B AA; 2 triple 324-mm STWS.2 ASW TT (Stingray torpedoes); 1 or 2 Lynx HAS.3/HMA.8 helicopters (Sea Skua ASM, Stingray torpedoes) or 1 Sea King HAS.6 helicopter; F 87 also: 2 single 20-mm . . . AA
Electronics:
Radar: 1 Kelvin-Hughes Type 1006 nav.; 1 BAE Systems Type 967M-968 surf./air-search; 2 BAE Systems Type 911 f.c.; 1 Thales Goalkeeper f.c.
Sonar: Thales Type 2050 (F 99: Type 2016) hull-mounted (4.5-7.5 kHz)
EW: Racal UAT(5 or 6) intercept; UAD/UAK COBLU comms intercept; DLB decoy RL syst. (4 6-round Mk 137 RL); 2 DEC laser-dazzler; 4 DLF(2) floating decoy launchers; Type 182 towed torpedo decoy syst.
E/O: 2 GSA.8/GPEOD Sea Archer gun f.c. and surveillance
M: COGAG: 2 Rolls-Royce Spey SM.1A DR boost gas turbines (18,770 shp each) and 2 Rolls-Royce Tyne RM.1C gas turbines (5,340 shp each); 2 5-bladed Stone Manganese CP props; 48,220 shp max.
Electric: 4,000 kw (4 × 1,000 kw Paxman Valenta 12PA 200CZ diesel sets)
Range: 7,000/18 (on Tyne gas turbines); 12,000/14 (one shaft)
Fuel: 700 tons, plus 80 tons aviation fuel
Crew: 13 officers, 62 petty officers, 157 other enlisted (as flagships: 21 officers, 65 petty officers, 159 other enlisted)

Remarks: Third series in the Type 22/Broadsword-class design, with same basic hull as Batch 2/Boxer class, but with a 114-mm gun on the forecastle and the antiship missile launchers moved to abaft the pilothouse and oriented athwartships. The first two were ordered 14-12-82 and the third and fourth on 28-1-85. F 86 ran aground off Tromsø, Norway, on 5-9-01, damaging the starboard propeller shaft.
Hull systems: Maximum generator output is 5,200 kw for short periods. The flight deck is sized for Merlin HM.1, but the hangar reportedly is too low to accommodate the helicopter.

Combat systems: All have the DFA-7 (CACS-5) Computer-Assisted Command System, with Link 11 and 14 compatibility. The CCA (Captain's Combat Aid) computerized decision-making system has been added. They are equipped with ICS(3) communications suite and SCOT-1C SHF and Marisat SATCOM terminals. The GSA-8/GPEOD (Gun System Automation 8/General-Purpose Electro-Optical Director) t.v./IR/laser back-up directors are for the 114-mm gun. The Goalkeeper gatling AA gun mount has its own integral I-band search/tracker and I/K-band tracking radars. The Decca Type 1008 navigational radar may be added to supplement Type 1007. All four received new communications suites at Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, during 2001. The Type 2031(Z) passive linear towed hydrophone array systems and their towing winches were removed during 1999, and the winch compartments were converted for use as gymnasiums. F 85 had the 114-mm mount replaced with a low-radar-reflective Mk 8 Mod. 1 mounting and the former towed sonar array winch room converted to a joint operations planning room during an overhaul completed during 2-02. The Type 275 jammers were deactivated or removed by end-2000. The COBLU (Cooperative Outboard Logistics Update) communications intercept system is an updated version of the UAD/UAK suite aboard Sheffield (F 96), itself a variant of the U.S. SSQ-108(V) OUTBOARD (Organizational Unit Tactical Baseline Operational Area Radio Detection Countermeasures Exploitation System); all but F 86 had had the upgrade by end-2001


Sources: Wikipedia; Combat Fleets of the World 2005-06; various internet sites.

Peter Crichton
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