HMS Tartar (F133)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Tartar.

HMS Tartar (F133) was a Tribal-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named after the Tartar people, most of whom were located in Asia and Eastern Europe. She was sold to the Indonesian Navy in 1984 as KRI Hasanuddin (333).

Aerial view of HMS Tartar in 1971
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Tartar
Namesake	Tatars
Builder	Devonport Dockyard
Laid down	22 October 1959
Launched	19 September 1960
Commissioned	26 February 1962
Decommissioned	29 March 1984
Identification	Pennant number: F133
Motto	Without Fear
Fate	Sold to Indonesia, 1984
Indonesia
Name	KRI Hasanuddin
Namesake	Hasanuddin of Gowa
Acquired	1984
Commissioned	3 April 1986
Stricken	2000
Identification	Pennant number: 333
Fate	Stricken 2000, scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Tribal-class frigate
Displacement	2,300 long tons (2,300 t) standard 2,700 long tons (2,700 t) full load
Length	360 ft (109.7 m) oa 350 ft (106.7 m) pp
Beam	42 ft 3 in (12.9 m)
Draught	13 ft 3 in (4.0 m) 17 ft 6 in (5.3 m) (propellers)^[1]
Propulsion	Single-shaft COSAG 1 Steam turbine 12,500 shp (9,300 kW) 1 Metrovick G-6 gas turbine 7,500 shp (5,600 kW)
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	253
Sensors and processing systems	Radar type 965 air-search Radar type 993 low-angle search Radar type 978 navigation Radar type 903 gunnery fire-control Radar type 262 GWS-21 fire-control Sonar type 177 search Sonar type 170 attack Sonar type 162 bottom profiling
Armament	2 × single 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 5* Mod 1 guns 2 × single 40 mm Mark 7 Bofors guns, later; 2 × four-rail GWS-20 Sea Cat missile systems 2 × single 20 mm Oerlikon guns 1 × Mark 10 Limbo ASW mortar
Aircraft carried	1 × Westland Wasp helicopter
Service record
Operations:	Third Cod War

Tartar in Portsmouth, July 1977

Tartar was built by Devonport Dockyard,^[2] at a cost of £4,140,000.^[3] She was launched on 19 September 1960 and commissioned on 26 February 1962.^[2]

Service history

Royal Navy

While in the West Indies in 1963, Tartar provided support to Trinidad after Hurricane Flora struck the Caribbean.^[4][5] In early December, Tartar's crew apprehended nine armed Cubans on board a ship off Cay Sal, Bahamas, where an arms cache was discovered by a ship's party.^[6]

Tartar was recommissioned on 12 January 1967 and attended Portsmouth Navy Days later that year.^[7] The frigate arrived in the Persian Gulf in 1968 via Simonstown, Mombasa and the Seychelles.

On 29 March 1968, Tartar and the amphibious assault vessel Intrepid were deployed to patrol off the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, small islands in the Persian Gulf, to deter Iran from occupying the islands.^[8] Between 1969 and 1971 she was commanded by Captain Cameron Rusby. On the voyage to the Seychelles the fleet auxiliary vessel RFA Ennerdale was lost, having struck a submerged object. Service in the Gulf was followed by a homeward journey via the Beira Patrol lasting six weeks and Cape Town thence to Gibraltar arriving during the talks between Harold Wilson, Prime Minister and Ian Smith from Rhodesia on board the cruiser Tiger.^{[citation needed]}

In 1975, Tartar undertook fishery protection duties in the Barents Sea.^{[citation needed]} She supported operations during the Third Cod War with Iceland. During the dispute, Tartar was rammed by the patrol vessel ICGV Týr on 1 April 1976,^[9] and by ICGV Ægir on 6 May.^[10] In total, Tartar spent six weeks on fisheries protection patrols in the Third Cod War, and was involved in four collisions.^[11] Later that year, in the West Indies, Tartar searched for and located the wreckage of Cubana Flight 455.^{[citation needed]} She was present at the Spithead Fleet Review in 1977, held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. At this time she was part of the 1st Frigate Squadron.^[12]

Tartar was reduced to reserve in 1980, being placed in the Standby Squadron.^[13] She was taken out of reserve during the Falklands War and restored for active service.^[14] The frigate did not deploy to the South Atlantic, however, instead operating in home waters in the absence of other warships.^{[citation needed]} She did deploy to the West Indies as a guardship in 1982/1983 for 3 months, spending Christmas and New Year in St Petersburg, Florida.^{[citation needed]} In June 1983, Tartar's Westland Wasp helicopter evacuated the six-man crew of the supply ship MV Spearfish, which had collided with an oil rig in the English Channel. As a potential hazard to navigation, Spearfish had to be sunk by the guns of Tartar.^[15]

Indonesian Navy

Tartar was decommissioned in March 1984 and sold to Indonesia. After a refit at Vosper Thornycroft's Woolston, Southampton shipyard, the ship was delivered on 22 January 1986 and was commissioned into the Indonesian Navy on 3 April 1986,^[16] with the name KRI Hasanuddin,^[17] so named after a sultan who fought the Dutch. The frigate was stricken in 2000^[18] and her name was given to a Dutch-built Diponegoro-class corvette.

References

1. Blackman 1971, p. 356
2. Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger (1995), p. 518.
3. "A-Submarine Cost Revised". The Times (56304): Col F, p 8. 24 April 1965.
4. "Hurricane Kills More Than 400". The Times (55825): Col F, p 10. 7 October 1963.
5. "Tobago Prepares To Rebuild". The Times (55827): Col B, p 10. 9 October 1963.
6. "British Patrol Arrests Nine Cubans". The Times (55873): Col E, p 10. 2 December 1963.
7. Programme, Navy Days Portsmouth, 26–28 August 1967, HMSO, p17.
8. Roberts 2009, p. 82
9. "Rammings damage cod war frigates". The Times (59670): Col A, p. 4. 3 April 1976.
10. "Mr Crosland stands by for cod war message". The Times (59714): Col D, p. 4. 27 May 1976.
11. "End of the Cod Patrol...after 49 collisions" (PDF). Navy News. July 1976. p. 8. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
12. Winton, John (July 1977) "Spithead – 28 June 1977". The Naval Review: Vol. 65, No. 3, p. 203.
13. "Standby Squadron". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 22. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 26 April 1982. col. 222W. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
14. "Royal Navy Ships (Commissioning Dates)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 24. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 27 May 1982. col. 396W. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
15. "Ship's crew saved after oil rig collision". The Times (61572): Col D, p. 1. 30 June 1983.
16. Prézelin & Baker 1990, p. 248
17. Colledge & Warlow 2010, p. 397
18. Wertheim 2005, pp. 304

Publications

• Blackman, Raymond V. B., ed. (1971). Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2010) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (4th Rev ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-935149-07-1.
• Gardiner, Robert & Chesneau, Roger (1995), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995, Conway Maritime Press, London, ISBN 978-0-8517-7605-7.
• Prézelin, Bernard; Baker, A. D. III, eds. (1990). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/1991. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-250-8.
• Marriott, Leo, 1983. Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983, Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 07110 1322 5
• Roberts, John (2009). Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-812-8.
• Wertheim, Eric (2005). Combat Fleets of the World 2005–2006: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems. Annapolis, Maryland, US: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-934-7.