D-92 Liverpool
HMS Liverpool is the tenth of the class of Type 42 Destroyers and the seventh ship to bear the name. She was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead and was launched on 25 September 1980 by Lady Strathcona, wife of the then Minister of State for Defence.
HMS Liverpool has fired what is believed to be the first salvo of Sea Dart missiles in over a decade and possibly only the second salvo ever. The firing took place 250 miles south west of the Scilly Isles on 8 September 2002 against a sea skimming target. Liverpool scored a direct hit on the target proving the effectiveness of both the Sea Dart Missile and Liverpool's system after an 18 month refit in Rosyth Royal Dockyard. Fife.
The First Liverpool
The first HMS Liverpool was a Fifth Rate Frigate of 681 tons, built in the city after which she was named and launched on 19 July 1741. She had a complement of 250 men and was armed with 40 guns. After service off the coast of Spain and on the Mediterranean Station she was paid off in Woolwich and sold in September 1756 for the princely sum of £494.
The Second Liverpool
The second HMS Liverpool, also built on the Mersey, was launched on 10 February 1758. A Sixth Rate Frigate of 587 tons and armed with 28 guns, she was initially engaged in blockading Dunkirk where a French expedition had been assembled for descent on Scotland or Ireland. Whilst on this duty, the Liverpool captured and carried into Margate Roads, a French Privateer belonging to Dunkirk and a short time later another French Privateer, the Grand Admiral. The ship continued in Service in the Channel and North Sea until 1764 when she was paid off at Woolwich only to be recommissioned and ordered to Newfoundland. After two years service, she proceeded to the Mediterranean and remained there until returning to England and paying off at Chatham in March 1772.
On 15 July 1775, the Liverpool was recommissioned for a second time for service in the Mediterranean. After some time there she joined the fleet in North America under Viscount Howe in 1777, but on 11 February 1778 she was wrecked off Long Island.
The Third Liverpool
The third HMS Liverpool was a Fourth Rate Frigate of 1247 tons and 50 guns and was launched at Woolwich on 21 February 1814. Her first commission was a short one:; two years to the Cape Station and returning to be paid off at Deptford on 3 April 1816. She was recommissioned in February 1818 and sailed to the East Indies Station. In 1819, the Liverpool took part in the expedition sent against the Persian Gulf pirates at Ras-al-Khyma. The operations lasted from 4-8 December and resulted in the capture and destruction of the fortifications and all the pirate vessels in the port. There were no casualties in the ship's company which was a remarkable achievement at this time. The ship continued on the East Indies station until paid off at Bombay in January 1822.
The Fourth Liverpool
The fourth HMS Liverpool was a Fourth Rate Screw Frigate of some 1195 tons. She was launched at Devonport on 30 October 1860 and was fitted with engines of 600HP. During her first commission she served in the North America and West Indies Station and later with the Channel Squadron until placed in the "Steam Reserve" at Devonport in August 1867. She was recommissioned on 8 May 1869 as flagship of a detached squadron, "having its object the display of the British Flag . in the distant parts of the world." This Squadron, known as the "Flying Squadron", sailed from Plymouth on 18 June 1869 and circumnavigated the globe before returning home in November 1870 having sailed over 53,000 miles. She was paid off into reserve in December 1870, declared obsolete in 1872 and sold for breaking in 1875.
The Fifth Liverpool
The fifth HMS Liverpool, a 4.800 ton cruiser, was built by Vickers Sons & Maxim of Barrow and was the first ship of the name to be built of steel. She was launched on 30 October 1909 and armed with 2 x 6inch and 10 x 4inch guns. She served with the Home Fleet from 1910?14. At the outbreak of the First World War, she joined the Grand Fleet and and took part in the Helogoland Bight action on 28 August 1914. In this, she assisted in rescuing the crew of the German Cruiser Mainz. Two months later, she stood by HMS Audacious after that ship had been mined and when the Audacious blew up, flying debris caused the death of a Petty Officer onboard the Liverpool. At the end of February 1915, the ship was detached from the Grand Fleet to search off the African Coast for the armed merchant cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm and in November that year she joined the fleet in the Adriatic where she remained until the end of the war. On 8 November 1921, the Liverpool was sold for breaking up in Germany.
The Sixth Liverpool
The last ship to bear the name, (the sixth Liverpool) a 9,400 ton cruiser, was completed in November 1938 and was armed with 12 x 6inch, 8 x 4inch guns and 6 torpedo tubes. On 21 January 1940 while in the China Station, she intercepted the Japanese liner Asama Maru 35 miles from the coast of Japan and removed 21 German Officers and men, survivors from the German SS Columbus who were on their way to Germany. Then Liverpool was transferred to the 7th Cruiser Squadron and on the 12 June 1940 she and HMS Gloucester engaged small craft off Tobruk. The next day, the Italians admitted the loss of one ship.
Later that month, on the 28th, the 7th Cruiser Squadron (Orion, Neptune, Sydney, Gloucester and Liverpool) sighted three Italian Destroyers south?west of Cape Matapan, Greece. An action ensued at long range and the enemy destroyer Espero was sunk.
On 14 October 1940, the Liverpool was torpedoed by enemy aircraft in an action south-east of Crete and was seriously damaged. She was towed to Alexandria for repairs and was not ready for sea again until April 1941. She then went to the United States for permanent repairs at San Francisco. She returned to home waters in Spring 1942 and covered the Arctic Convoys during April and May that year.
The Liverpool joined the Malta convoys in June 1942 and was again torpedoed by aircraft on 14 June and had to be towed to Gibraltar. Temporary repairs were carried out before she proceeded to Rosyth for a permanent repair. She spent three years there before returning to service. The Liverpool then went to the Mediterranean until she was put into Reserve at Portsmouth in May 1952. She was finally broken up in 1958 having gained battle honours during the Second World War at Mediterranean 1940, Calabria 1940, Arctic 1942 and Malta Convoys 1942.
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