HMS Lowestoft Summary of Service 1961 – 1978
Supplied by the Naval Historical Branch
HMS LOWESTOFT was a type 12 First Rate anti-submarine frigate of the ROTHESAY class all named after coastal resorts, ordered under the 1955/1956 programme and built and engined by Messrs Alexander Stephen and Sons Ltd. Linthouse, Glasgow. Laid down on 9 June 1958, the LOWESTOFT was launched by Mrs N A Copeman, wife of Vice Admiral N A Copeman CB, DSC the fourth Sea Lord and Vice Controller of the Navy on 23 June 1960, commissioned at Glasgow on 18th October 1961 and completed the following day. As well as being the ninth and last of the ROTHESAY class to complete, HMS LOWESTOFT was the 36th frigate to be completed since 1955, when the first post-war frigates of the BLACKWOOD class commissioned.
On completion the LOWESTOFT called at Portsmouth and Chatham, and then
proceeded to Portland on 6 January 1962 for work up before joining the 5th
Frigate Squadron in March. On 17 March she left Chatham for five months
service on the Mediterranean and West Indies Stations, during which time
she visited Gibraltar, Malta, Taranto, Leros, Athens, Milos, Civitavecchia,
Barcelona, Palma, San Vincente, Pointe a Pierre, Grenada, St Vincent, Bequia
and Chaguaramas, before returning to Chatham on 10 August 1962.
Between 31 August and 6 September 1962 the LOWESTOFT paid the first of a
number of visits to her affiliated town of Lowestoft in Suffolk; the ship
also has links with Middle Park School, Havant, Hants. Later in the month
she visited Londonderry and the Scilly Isles, before returning to Chatham
for docking and maintenance on the 28 September completing on the 19 October.
During November and December the LOWESTOFT, in company with HM Ships BERWICK
and SCARBOROUGH, visited Amsterdam, Harwich, Liverpool, Londonderry and
Waterford before returning to Chatham for docking on the 12 December.
On 21 January 1963 LOWESTOFT left Chatham and joined other ships of the
5th FS for a two months deployment to the USA. The ships visited a number
of American ports including Norfolk Virginia, Philadelphia, Newport Rhode
Island and Bridgeport and also exercised with US warships. After a visit
to Bermuda the LOWESTOFT arrived at Chatham on 13 March 1963 where she underwent
maintenance and repairs until 24th May. On 8 June she proceeded to Portland
for work up before joining the 23rd Escort Squadron in the Mediterranean
during August. Before leaving the Mediterranean in May 1964 the LOWESTOFT
visited Gibraltar, Malta, Tobruk, Benghazi, Naples, Genoa, Nice, Augusta,
Tunis, Istanbul and Haifa and participated in a number of NATO exercises
including TRIPLEXWEST (October 1963), MOON TIGER (November – December
1963), EAGLE EYE and EARLY BIRD (February – March 1964).
Returning to Chatham on 22 May 1964 the LOWESTOFT underwent a maintenance period before rejoining the 23rd ES at Portsmouth in July. At the beginning of September she was forced to return to Chatham for further repairs which were completed on the 23 October. Later in the month she visited Antwerp and in November Gibraltar before returning to Portsmouth in mid December.
During January 1965 the LOWESTOFT participated in submarine exercises and acted as plane guard for HMS ARK ROYAL in the Moray firth. At the end of May she accompanied HMY Britannia during HM the Queen's visit to Hamburg. In June and July the LOWESTOFT visited Harwich, London and Londonderry and exercised in the Clyde area before returning to Chatham for docking and maintenance on 26 July.
In September 1965 the LOWESTOFT proceeded to the Mediterranean enroute for the Far East Fleet, in company with HMS EAGLE she transited the Suez Canal during October and visited Mombasa and Aden. In November the LOWESTOFT took part in exercise GREAT WESTERN in the Aden area, eventually arriving at Singapore for maintenance on 4 December.
During January and February 1966 the LOWESTOFT visited Hong Kong, Aden and Mombasa. On 26 February she left Mombasa to join HM Ships ARK ROYAL and RHYL with the RFA’s FORT DUQUESNE, PEARLEAF and TIDEFLOW on the Oil Watch Patrol in the Mozambique Channel. The task was to intercept illicit tanker movements into the port of Beira with supplies bound for Rhodesia which had recently declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.The LOWESTOFT remained with this force until 11 March when she left for home eventually arriving at Chatham on 6 April 1966.
After a docking and essential defects period at Chatham LOWESTOFT exercised in the Rosyth area during May 1966. Between 31 May and 3 June she visited Cherbourg and from 19 June to 1 July Londonderry. After further exercises off Cape Wrath the LOWESTOFT returned to Chatham for maintenance on 16 July. It was about this time that the 23rd ES was disbanded, the LOWESTOFT one of the original members had spent three years with the Squadron.
At the end of August 1966 the LOWESTOFT left Chatham to join the Mediterranean Squadron. After calling at Gibraltar she arrived at Malta on 7 September. For the next month she exercised in the Malta practice areas broken by visits to Catania, Mersa Brega and Benghazi. During November she visited Toulon and Costanzia returning to Malta for maintenance on 24 November.
At the end of January 1967 the LOWESTOFT visited Izmir in Turkey returning
to Malta for self-maintenance on 5 February. Later in the month she exercised
in the Gibraltar and Malta areas and paid a visit to Naples. In March she
took part in exercise POKER HAND in the Tyrrhenian Sea and was employed
on plane guard duties for HMS HERMES.
Between 17-21 March the Commander-in-Chief
Mediterranean, Admiral Sir John Hamilton GBE CB
embarked in the LOWESTOFT
for his farewell visit to Athens. During April the LOWESTOFT exercised in
the Ionian Sea and visited Corfu and Split before returning to Malta for
maintenance on 17 April.
She left the Mediterranean in May and later that month paid another visit
to Lowestoft before proceeding to Chatham for major refit.
The refit which lasted from 29 August 1967 to 29 May 1970 involved the removal
of one of the anti-submarine mortars and its replacement by a flight deck
and hanger to operate a Westland Wasp helicopter; the replacement of the
40mm gun by a Seacatsurface-to-air missile system; the modification of
the former lattice mast to a plated structure; and the addition of two 20mm
Oerlikon guns. The general effect of this reconstruction, which extended
to the entire ROTHESAY class, brought them up to LEANDERclass standards.
HMS LOWESTOFT re-commissioned at Chatham on 30 May 1970 and immediately
embarked on an extensive programme of trials and work up, before becoming
operational on the 10 September. Between 16-20 September she paid another
visit to Lowestoft before proceeding to Portland for shakedown on 21 September.
During November and December 1970 LOWESTOFT visited Copenhagen, Haakonsven
and Antwerp, returning to Chatham on 11 December.
Between 15 January and 19 April 1971 LOWESTOFT was assigned to NATO’s
Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT). During this period she visited
Rotterdam, Lisbon, Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg and Bergen and took part in exercises
in the Baltic and the eastern area of the North Atlantic (SUNNY SEAS 1971).
In March the LOWESTOFT played host for the Force’s visit to Chatham.
At the end of her three month deployment with STANAVFORLANT the LOWESTOFT
returned to Chatham for a docking and essential defects period on 23 April
1971 completing on the 2 June.
On 15 June 1971 the LOWESTOFT left Portsmouth to begin a five month deployment
to the West Indies. As well as an extensive programme of exercises she acted
as Caribbean guard ship and carried out Bahamas Patrol on three occasions.
Places visited included Porta Delgada, Bermuda, The US Naval base at Roosevelt
Roads (Puerto Rico), Anguilla, Antigua, Montserrat, Grenada, Carriacou,
Chaguaramas, Dominica and St Lucia, San Juan, Miami, Freepost, Tortola,
Saba, Chesapeake and Washington DC. At Washington the LOWESTOFT embarked
the “McCarthy Collection” – one of the largest collections
of commemorative pieces of the Nelson era – and took it to Portsmouth,
where at a ceremony held on 4 May 1972 it was presented to the Royal Navy
by its American owner, Mrs Lily McCarthy. After disembarking the “McCarthy
Collection” the LOWESTOFT arrived at Chatham for docking and maintenance
on 24 November 1971.
Under the new Fleet Squadron reorganisation, the LOWESTOFT was allocated
to the 3rd Frigate Squadron and after work up at Portland and a further
maintenance period at Chatham she proceeded to join the Far East Fleet,
arriving at Simonstown on 13 April 1972. On the morning of 21 April as the
LOWESTOFT was on passage from Simonstown to Durban the Port Elizabeth Radio
broadcast a warning that the 12,000 grt Liberian tanker MV SILVER CASTLE
which had been in collision the previous day, was on fire and some of the
crew were missing. Adjusting course accordingly, the LOWESTOFT arrived on
the scene soon after midday and found a search by ships and aircraft was
in progress for the missing sailors. The tanker was lying stopped some four
miles from the coast, the entire after part of the ship had been ravaged
by fire and the stern section was still burning. There was a large hole
in the port side from which oil was leaking. The LOWESTOFT put a fire party
aboard the tanker and then closed her to enable a hose to be passed across
the water to be played on the stern section.
As the SILVER CASTLE was steadily drifting ashore it was vital, once the
fire was under control to get a tow onboard and pull her out to sea, as
once aground it would have been impossible to have prevented large scale
oil pollution. Before securing the tow, the boarding party had great difficulty
in disconnecting the rudder from the burnt out steering motor as the tiller
flat was full of smoke and the heat was intense from the fire still burning
in the compartment below.
After the tow was secured the tanker at first proved very difficult to control
due to the hole in her side, the list to port and the jammed rudder. The
tow had to be slipped and repassed in the dark before headway was finally
made to seaward by which time the SILVER CASTLE was within half a mile of
going aground. However, during the night slow but steady progress was made
out to sea and by dawn the LOWESTOFT and her charge were some 20 miles off
shore.
Further problems arose during the next day; first dense fog rolled in and
the tanker was invisible for two hours and when it lifted the wind and sea
rose and the tow line parted. A new line was passed but the tanker continued
to be difficult to control. Help was, however near at hand as the salvage tug
EUROMAN had been ordered to relieve the LOWESTOFT and at 1900 0n 22
April the tow was transferred to the tug and the LOWESTOFT was able to resume
her interrupted passage to Durban.
On the 24 April the Beira patrol turnover was carried out with HMS ARETHUSA and the LOWESTOFT started patrol the following day, but was able to report an incident- free period when relieved by HMS CLEOPATRA on 22 May.
During June and July the LOWESTOFT visited Bangkok, Pulan Tioman, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Gan and Male before proceeding to the Persian Gulf in mid-August,
where she visited Dubai, Bahrain, Kharg Island, Bandar Abbas and Mombasa.
In October she exercised with units of the South African Navy before sailing
for home arriving at Chatham on 14 November 1972.
After a maintenance period at Chatham the LOWESTOFT called at Rosyth for
briefing and stores before sailing for Icelandic Fishery Protection Patrol
on 5 January 1973. During this patrol she answered calls for assistance
from two British trawlers within two days. The Hull trawler ST AMANT had
caught the cod end of her trawl round her screw and radioed for help from
the frigate’s diving team. Divers crossed to the trawler by Gemini
in heavy seas and assessed the problem, it was considered however too dangerous
to remove the wire but safe for the trawler to make her way at reduced speed
to the Faeroes to seek further assistance. Two days later the Fleetwood
trawler SSAFA asked the LOWESTOFT to supply heavy duty cable to replace
burnt out cable to her trawling winch. The job proved more difficult than
expected and a team of technicians was transferred to the trawler and the
repairs were completed in eight hours. After exchanging fresh fish for fruit
and bread with the frigate the trawler returned to the fishing grounds and
the LOWESTOFT resumed patrol duties.
On 16 January the LOWESTOFT was forced to return to Chatham for repairs and was relieved on patrol by HMS YARMOUTH. On completion of repairs the LOWESTOFT sailed for the Mediterranean arriving at Gibraltar on 9 February. In March she visited Naples and participated in exercise RULER returning to Gibraltar on 2 April. From 30 April to 19 October 1973 she underwent a refit at Gibraltar, on 6 October the ship’s company of HMS BERWICK then preparing for refit transferred to the LOWESTOFT. For much of November she carried out trials and rectification in the Gibraltar area, returning to Portsmouth at the end of the month
In February 1974 the LOWESTOFT proceeded to Portland for work up, returning to Portsmouth to give leave and undergo an assisted maintenance period on 22 March. Between 22 – 25 April she visited Lisbon and then participated in the NATO exercise DAWN PATROL 74 held in the Mediterranean and South East area of the North Atlantic between 25 April and 11 May. Later in the month she visited Naples and acted as Gibraltar guard ship. In June she visited Wilhelmshaven, Aberdeen and Lowestoft returning to Portsmouth on 21 June. At the end of the month the LOWESTOFT accompanied HMS GLAMORGAN flying the flag of Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Power KBE MBE Flag Officer Plymouth on a two day official visit to Cherbourg. After a spell of weapon training the LOWESTOFT returned to Portsmouth on the 4 July 1974.
Between September 1974 and June 1975 the LOWESTOFT formed part of the Task Group 317.2 deployment to the Indian Ocean, Far East and South America. The Group was commanded by Vice Admiral H C Leach, Flag Officer First Flotilla and consisted of the command helicopter cruiser HMS BLAKE (flagship), the Fleet submarine HMS WARSPITE and the 3rd Frigate Squadron (HM Ships LEANDER, ACHILLES,DIOMEDE, FALMOUTH and LOWESTOFT) together with the RFA’s STROMNESS, OLNA and GREEN ROVER.
In November 1974 the Group took part in the CENTO exercise MIDLINK – the largest maritime exercise ever held in the Indian Ocean, involving units from the US, Turkish, Iranian, Pakistani and Royal Navies. Because of its flexibility and widespread operations the Group was often strategically well placed at the right time. It was off the Cape of Good Hope when a powerful Russian force led by the modern helicopter cruiser LENINGRAD passed through this focal area. Ships of the Group provided food, clothing, shelter and medical assistance after a cyclone in Mauritius and were ready if required to evacuate British nationals from Cambodia and Vietnam and to assist in the aftermath of the Darwin cyclone disaster.
For the last five weeks of its deployment the Group was enlarged when it was joined by the aircraft carrier HMS ARK ROYAL the guided missile destroyer HMS HAMPSHIRE and three RFA’s for visits to Brazil and exercises with the Brazilian Navy. When the Group returned to the UK on 11/12 June 1975 it had exercised or trained with units of 14 foreign and commonwealth navies, taken part in major CENTO and SEATO exercises and visited more than 30 ports.
The LOWESTOFT underwent docking and maintenance at Portsmouth completing on 1st August 1975. After weapon training in the Portland area she took part in exercise HIGH WOOD in the Rosyth area followed by a visit to Aberdeen between 7 – 13 October. Later in the month she exercised in the Moray Firth with HMS ARK ROYAL returning to Portsmouth for maintenance on 24 October. In November she visited Hamburg and after a further maintenance period at Portsmouth arrived at Rosyth on 15 December to prepare for an Icelandic Fishery Protection Patrol.
The LOWESTOFT left Rosyth for Icelandic waters on the 18 December 1975; on 18 February 1976 she was in collision with the Icelandic gunboat ICGV THOR necessitating her return to Portsmouth for repairs which were completed in April. The LOWESTOFT returned to Icelandic waters in May when the Hull Trawler PRIMELLA came under fire from ICGV AEGIR, the frigate went to her aid and the trawler was escorted unscathed back to the comparative safety of the fishing fleet. The LOWESTOFT returned to Portsmouth on 23 May.
Between 25 – 30 June 1976 the LOWESTOFT visited Bridgeport (Connecticut)
and on 4 July she together with HM Ships BACCHANTE and 
LONDON
were among 50 ships from 21 nations taking part in an international naval
review for the US bi-centennial celebrations off New York. The LOWESTOFT
returned to Portsmouth on 16 July.
After a period of weapon training the LOWESTOFT participated in the NATO
exercise TEAMWORK during September and later in the month paid a visit to
Lowestoft, returning to Portsmouth on 29 September.
Between 11 October 1976 and 5 September 1977 the LOWESTOFT underwent a major refit at Portsmouth to prepare her for her new role of trials and training ship. Following post refit trials she was re-commissioned on 21 October 1977 and sailed for sea training at Portland. After defect rectification she spent the rest of the year conducting trials in the Mediterranean returning to Portsmouth on 16 December.
Between January and May 1978 the LOWESTOFT was engaged on trials in the
Madeira and Biscay areas, she was at Chatham for Navy days at the end of
May and in June conducted trials in the South-Western Approaches. At the
end of July she paid another visit to her affiliated town of Lowestoft returning
to Portsmouth in August to give leave and to undergo maintenance. September
was spent on shakedown at Portland and in October she visited Liverpool
and Falmouth. During November and December she underwent a docking period
and essential defects period at Falmouth returning to Portsmouth on 16 December.
BATTLE HONOURS
QUEBEC
1759
GENOA 1795
"MINERVE" 1795
HELIGOLAND 1914
DOGGER BANK 1915
ATLANTIC 1940-1945
NORTH SEA 1940-1945
COMMANDING OFFICERS 1961 – 1984
Commander
R D Lygo RN 5 SEP 1961
Commander MWG Fawcett RN MAR 1963
Captain
J D Treacher RN 7 DEC 1964
Commander EMG Johnstone RN 7 MAR 1966 (until May 1967)
Commander D H Morse RN 25 MAR 1970
Commander MC Powys-Maurice RN 8 NOV 1971 (TASO during 1st Commission)
Commander
PGV Dingemans RN 12 OCT 1973
Commander T Goetz RN 3 SEP 1974
Commander RM Carpendale RN 21 NOV 1975
Commander T J Smy RN 2 AUG 1977
Commander
Jimmy Chestnutt RN 1979
Commander Charles.H. Buckle RN 1980
Commander
Kim Howat RN 1984