Category Archives: All RAF, Army and UK Military

HMS SPARTAN, Dido Class Light Cruiser, sunk by a radio-controlled Henschel Hs 293 anti-ship guided missile on the 29 January 1944

She was named in honour of the Battle of Agincourt, fought in 1415 during the Hundred Years’ War. Agincourt was built by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Company Limited on the River Tyne. She was launched on 29 January 1945 and commissioned on 25 June 1947.In 1966, Agincourt was reduced to Operational Reserve, andContinue reading “HMS Agincourt (D86) was a later or 1943 Battle-class fleet destroyer of the Royal Navy.”

Bristol was intended to be the first of a class of large destroyers to escort the CVA-01 aircraft carriers projected to come into service in the early 1970s but the rest of the class and the CVA-01 carriers were cancelled as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper which cut defence spending. Following aContinue reading “HMS Bristol (D23) was a Type 82 destroyer, the only vessel of her class to be built for the Royal Navy.”

In December, 1949, she supported Operation Corkscrew by providing aviation fuel at Deception Island for aircraft which helped relieve men of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey at Base E on Stonington Island. She later served in the Korean War, and in support of the atomic tests at Mauro Atoll. She was later employed as aContinue reading “RFA Gold Ranger (A130) was a fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary which first served in World War II.”