HMS Norfolk D21 County Class Destroyer December 1971 Photo Print

HMS Norfolk (D21), a Royal Navy County Class destroyer, leads three ships of her class across a choppy sea in the English Channel in December 1971, seen from the air with “D21” clear on her side. Her two twin gun turrets stand forward, her masts and funnels rise amidships, and a Wessex helicopter sits on her flight deck aft. Behind her, on parallel courses with long white wakes, come her sisters HMS London (D16), flying the White Ensign with her own Wessex on deck, and HMS Antrim (D18) in the distance. The three ships were returning from joint exercises with the Royal Air Force in the Atlantic, the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. When this photograph was taken, the Prince of Wales was serving on board Norfolk, his first ship after training at Dartmouth. She had been launched at Swan Hunter by Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk, on 16 November 1967, and commissioned in March 1970. In 1972 she began a refit in which “B” turret was replaced by four Exocet launchers, making her the first Royal Navy warship armed with the missile. She was sold to Chile in April 1982 and served there as Capitán Prat until 2006. You can read more about the history of HMS Norfolk HERE This print is ideal for those who served in HMS Norfolk, HMS London or HMS Antrim in the early 1970s, and anyone with a connection to the County Class destroyers. Product Details Image Taken: December 1971 Photographer: Royal Navy photographer © Public Domain - Restored by Hampshire Prints