Off Djibouti in 2015, with new "Kryten" gun after refit
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Kent |
Namesake | Duke of Kent |
Operator | Royal Navy |
Ordered | February 1996 |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Laid down | 16 April 1997 |
Launched | 27 May 1998 |
Sponsored by | Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy |
Commissioned | 8 June 2000 |
Refit | LIFEX 2016–2018 |
Homeport | Devonport[1] |
Identification | list error: mixed text and list (help) Pennant number: F78
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Motto | Invicta (Unconquered) |
Status | In refit |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type 23 frigate |
Displacement | 4,900 t (4,800 long tons; 5,400 short tons)[2] |
Length | 133 m (436 ft 4 in) |
Beam | 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) |
Draught | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
Propulsion | CODLAG:
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Speed | In excess of 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
Range | 7,500 nautical miles (14,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) |
Complement | 185 (accommodation for up to 205) |
Electronic warfare & decoys |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried |
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Aviation facilities |
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HMS Kent is a Type 23 Duke-class frigate of the Royal Navy, and the twelfth ship to bear the name, although formally she is named after the dukedom rather than the county. Sponsored by Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy (daughter of the late Prince George, Duke of Kent), Kent was launched on 28 May 1998 and commissioned on 8 June 2000 under the command of then Commander John Clink. She was the first ship to enter Royal Navy service in the 21st century and the first Royal Navy warship with a female Executive Officer, Lt Cdr Vanessa Jane Spiller, appointed in April 2001.[7][8][9]
Kent's lineage boasts sixteen Battle Honours from the three given to the first Kent of 46 guns built in 1653, to the five awarded to the ninth and tenth Kents of World War I and World War II.[7]