HMS Scylla (F71) was the last built for the Royal Navy (RN). She was the fifth vessel in the Royal Navy to be named after the Sea Monster who devoured the victims of the whirlpool, Charybdis, and was commonly referred to as "Aberdeen's frigate".
Scylla was constructed at Devonport Royal Dockyard, originally for Anti-submarine warfare. She was commissioned in 1970, taken out of service in 1993 in accordance with Options for Change, and sunk as an artificial reef in 2004 off Whitsand Bay, Cornwall.
In early 1966, the British Admiralty ordered Scylla, a "Broad-Beam" Leander-class frigate from Devonport Dockyard at a cost of ã6,600,000.
Scylla was laid down on 17 May 1967 by sponsor Joyce Talbot, the wife of Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, Vice-Admiral, Sir Fitzroy Talbot.
She was launched at Devonport on 8 August 1968 and commissioned at Portsmouth on 14 February 1970, receiving the pennant number F71, by sponsor Katherine Foley, the wife of Maurice Foley.
She was built to a length of 372 feet, a beam of 43 feet and a draught of 19 feet, featuring two Babcock & Wilcox boilers supplying steam to two sets of White-English Electric double-reduction geared turbines to two shafts, which produce and excess of 33,000 shaft horsepower, capable of propelling her at speeds over 28 knots.
She was later issued an updated Sonar system as her existing one had become obsolete, rendering her vulnerable to advanced threats. The original Westland Wasp on board Scylla was later replaced by a Westland Lynx.
On 22 January 1973, Scylla collided with the Torpoint ferry, one of three separate collisions involving four warships on the same day. Her collision had occurred while on sea trials following a refit. While she resumed her journey, the ferry sustained a gash at the bow. A court martial in May reprimanded Scyllas commanding officer, Captain Peter Sutton. In May, she was deployed with other frigates to support the Royal Navy's operations against Iceland during the Second Cod War. The frigate conducted patrols to counter Icelandic coast guard ships targeting fishing vessels. On 1 June, the Icelandic gunboat Aegir collided with her, the first such incident to occur during the fishing dispute.
Fishing relations with Iceland deteriorated further in 1975, and the dispute escalated into the Third Cod War. From February 1976, she began operating in support of British fishing trawlers. In May, she provided the escort to the royal yacht during Queen Elizabeth II's state visit to Finland. She attended the Spithead Fleet Review, held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. During that review she was situated between and sister ship .
In 1980, Scylla provided support when Cayman Brac, part of the Cayman Islands, was struck by a powerful hurricane. Scylla went into refit in 1980, to provision the frigate with Type 2016 sonar, Exocet and Sea Wolf missile launchers, and a Westland Lynx helicopter. The refit lasted four years, and cost ã79,692,000, rendering the frigate unavailable for service in the Falklands.
After being recommissioned, she acted as guard ship for the West Indies and patrolled the Persian Gulf as part of Armilla Patrol.
. In November 1986 at the end of her first Armilla Patrol, she was the escort to Britannia during the Prince and Princess of Wales' visit to the Middle East firing a Royal Salute off Matrah, Oman and also visiting Jiddah. The Princess of Wales flew home from Hurghada and she then escorted HMY Britannia north through the Suez Canal and on to Akrotiri, Cyprus where Prince Charles disembarked.
While on Armilla Patrol in late December 1987, her and twice intervened after two ships, the Korean Hyundai No 7 and British Eastern Power, were targeted by Iranian gunships. After the Korean vessel had been attacked south of Abu Musa Island, Scyllas crew launched the frigate's Westland Lynx helicopter and evacuated some of the ship's crew.
In 1990, Scylla was assigned a new commanding officer, Malcom S. Williams on 16 June, later undergoing a major 10-month refit at Rosyth, an official re-dedication at Her Majesty's naval base, Portsmouth, 2 November 1990.
By 1993, she had become the last representative of her class in active service. The frigate's last deployment came that year when she deployed to the South Atlantic. By then she was showing her age, and it had become difficult for the ship's engineers to maintain. She suffered steering problems while on patrol and collided with the accompanying tanker . While Scylla suffered only superficial damage, Gold Rover had to have repairs for hull damage. She was decommissioned in December 1993.
On 8 June 1992, Scylla, with the commanding officer, officers and members of the ship's company in attendance, was granted the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen.
Scylla was bought by the National Marine Aquarium for ã200,000 and on 27 March 2004 she was sunk off Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, to form the first such artificial reef in Europe. She was 'planted' on a sandy seabed at approximately from the wreck of the Liberty ship , which has been a dive site for many years.
Within three months of sinking the wreck was colonised by sea anemone, mussels and scallops and by six months sea urchin and starfish were found in large numbers. By 2021, 250 species have been recorded.
In 2007 two amateur divers were killed after entering the wreck. Two more experienced divers died inside the engine room on deck three in September 2021. There are fears that the continuing deposition close to the wreck of dredged waste from the Tamar estuary has led to large quantities of silt spreading through the ship and frequently mixing with the moving water reducing visibility, thereby preventing divers from finding their way out before their air supply diminishes. Following a 2014 survey the National Marine Aquarium who manage the site advised divers not to enter the wreck and solely to undertake scenic dives.
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