HMS Penelope (F127)

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

Aerial view of Leander-class frigate HMS Penelope (F127), 18 May 1970 (IWM HU 129947)
Aerial view of Penelope in her original configuration, 1970
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Penelope
NamesakePenelope
OperatorRoyal Navy
BuilderVickers-Armstrongs (Shipbuilders) Ltd, Newcastle
Laid down14 March 1961
Launched17 August 1962
Commissioned31 October 1963
Decommissioned1991
IdentificationPennant number: F127
FateSold to Ecuador, 1991
Ecuadoran Navy EnsignEcuador
NamePresidente Eloy Alfaro
NamesakeEloy Alfaro
OperatorEcuadorian Navy
Commissioned1991
Decommissioned19 March 2008
IdentificationHull number: FM 01
FateScrapped
General characteristics
Class and typeLeander-class frigate
Displacement
  • 2,450 tons standard
  • 3,200 tons full load
Length372 ft (113 m)
Beam41 ft (12 m)
Draught19 ft (6 m)
PropulsionTwo Babcock & Wilcox boilers delivering steam to two sets of White/English Electric geared turbines of 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) on two shafts
Speed28 knots (52 km/h)
Range4,600 nautical miles (8,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement18 officers and 248 sailors
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × Type 994 air/surface search radar
  • 1 × Type 1006 navigation radar
  • 2 × Type 903/904 fire-control radars
  • 1 × Type 184P active search and attack sonar
Electronic warfare
& decoys		CAAIS (Computer Assisted Action Information System) combat information system, ESM system with UAA-8/9 warning and Type 668/669 jamming elements.
Armament
  • 2 × 4.5-inch (110 mm) L45 DP guns in one Mk 6 twin mounting; later replaced by four Exocet MM38 missiles in 2 pairs of launchers, forward of the bridge screen
  • 3 × quadruple Sea Cat anti-air missile launchers. One Fwd between Exocet launchers and two on Hangar roof, aft.
  • 2 × 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors guns
  • 2 × Mk 32 triple 12.75-inch (324 mm) mountings for Mk46 or Stingray torpedoes
  • Post Falklands conflict saw the addition of 2 x Single Oerlikon 20 mm GAMBO mountings. One on a sponson port side forward of the hangar and one on a raised sponson, starboard side aft quarterdeck.
Aircraft carried1 × Wasp, later Lynx helicopter

HMS Penelope was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. In the Falklands War, Penelope fired on an Argentine patrol boat and claimed to be the last ship attacked by Argentine aircraft over the course of the war. In 1991, she was commissioned into the Ecuadorean Navy, and renamed Presidente Eloy Alfaro.