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HMS Leeds Castle

There have been just two ships that have borne the name HMS Leeds Castle.

First

The first HMS Leeds Castle was a Castle Class Corvette (though later on re-designated a frigate). She was built in 1944, the year of the famous D-Day landings and other famous events during WWII. The ship was built for Atlantic Convoy duties, fulfilling this role faithfully until the end of WWII in 1945. After the war in 1946, she joined the Anti-Submarine Training Squadron at Isle of Portland, United Kingdom, a far more mundane role than her wartime duties. She continued in this role till she was paid off at Chatham, England, United Kingdom in November 1956, after serving a total of 12 and a half years.

Second

HMS Leeds Castle (P258)
The second HMS Leeds Castle is a Castle Class patrol ship built by Hall Russell Co. Ltd of Aberdeen, Scotland. She was launched in October 1980 and commissioned into the Royal Navy the following August. She was involved in the 1982 Falklands War, operating between Ascension Island, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands, as a dispatch vessel.

Since that conflict, the Leeds Castle spent time on fishery protection duties around the United Kingdom. She is currently serving as the Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel, a deployment that will encompass all of the South Atlantic Overseas Territories. This deployment is expected to last three years. The ship will remain in the area throughout the deployment but the crew will be rotated every six months.

Leeds Castle Statistics