A long and prestigious line of warships have borne the name Liverpool totalling seven warships in over 300 years.
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The first HMS Liverpool was a Fifth Rate Frigate of 681 tons. She was built in her namesake city and launched on 19th July 1741. A tiny ship in comparison to today's modern frigates, she still had a relatively large crew complement of 250 men and was armed with 40 guns. She served off the coast of Spain, as well as the Mediterranean Station. In September 1756 she was paid off in Woolwich, United Kingdom.
The second HMS Liverpool also built in it's namesake city, was launched on the 10th February 1758. A Sixth Rate Frigate this time, had a displacement of 587 tons and armed with 28 guns. She was engaged in blockading Dunkirk where a French expedition had been assembled for a potential invasion of Ireland or Scotland. Whilst on this duty, Liverpool captured a French Privateer vessel bringing her into Margate Roads and shortly afterwards captured another French Privateer, the Grand Admiral. The ship continued in service in the English Channel and North Sea until 1764 when her career came to a brief end and she was paid off in Woolwich, only to be re-commissioned and subsequently ordered to Newfoundland. After two years service, she journeyed to the Mediterranean, remaining there till her eventual return for paying off in Chatham, England, March 1772.
On 15th July 1775, the Liverpool was re-commissioned for the second and last time. She served in the Mediterranean once more, then after a while joined the Fleet in North America under Viscount Howe in 1777, but it turned into a fateful deployment, for the ship was wrecked on 11th February 1778 off Long Island.
The third HMS Liverpool was a Fourth Rate Frigate, of 1247 tons and armed with 50 guns. Launched at Woolwich on 21st February 1814, finally after a long absence, a Liverpool was back in the Royal Navy. Her first commission though, was very brief. She served two years at the Cape Station before returning to Deptford to be paid off on 3rd April 1816. In 1818, the Liverpool was re-commissioned and joined the East Indies Station. In 1819, the Liverpool took part in the expedition against the Persian Gulf pirates at Ras-al-Khyma. The operation lasted from 4-8th December and was a resounding success, with the capture and destruction of the fortifications and ships in the port. No casualties were received, an astonishing achievement in those times. The ship carried on serving in the East Indies Station after that success, until being paid off at Bombay in January 1822.
The fourth HMS Liverpool was a Fourth Rate Screw Frigate of 1195 tons and powered by 600 HP engines. She was launched at Devonport, England, UK on 30th October 1860, the year the famous HMS Warrior was launched. During her first commission she served in the North America and West Indies Station and later the Channel Squadron until she was placed in the "Steam Reserve" at Devonport, England, UK in August 1867. She was re-commissioned, like previous Liverpool's, on 8th May 1869 as flagship of a detached squadron, it's mission was an early form of 'flag waving' and display of British power across the world. This squadron, known as the "flying squadron" left Portsmouth on 18th July 1869 and circumnavigated the globe before returning home in November 1870 having sailed an amazing 53,000 miles. In the same year, Liverpool was paid off into reserve in December, declared obsolete in 1872 and eventually sold for breaking in 1875.
The fifth HMS Liverpool, a 4800 ton cruiser, was built by Vickers Sons & Maxim of Barrow and was the first ship of the name to be built in the 20th century, not to mention the first Liverpool to be built of steel. She was launched on 30th October 1909 and was armed with 2 x 6inch and 10 x 4inch guns that was a potent group of weapons if used correctly. She served with the formidable Home Fleet from 1910-14. At the outbreak of World War I, she joined the prestigious and powerful Grand Fleet, taking part in the action of Helogoland Bight on 28th August 1914. In this, with distinction, 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. Audacious eventually blew up as a result of being mined, with flying debris causing the death of a petty officer onboard the Liverpool. At the end of 1915, the year of the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, detached from the Grand Fleet to allow her to search off the African Coast for the armed merchant cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm that was proving to be a deadly nuisance in the grand scheme of things for the British war effort. In November that year she joined the Fleet in the Adriatic where she remained until the end of the war, unscathed from the potential dangers she faced. On 8th November 1921, she ironically was sold for breaking up in the very nation she had fought against - Germany.
The sixth Liverpool, a 9,400 ton cruiser, was completed in November 1938 while war was looming on the horizon. She was armed with 12 x 6inch guns, 8 x 4inch guns and 6 torpedo tubes. On 21st January 1940 while in the China station, she intercepted the Japanese liner Asama Maru 35 miles from the coast of Japan, removing 21 German officers and men, survivors from the German SS Columbus who were on their way to Germany. Shortly afterwards Liverpool was transferred to the 7th Cruiser Squadron and on the 12th June 1940 she and HMS Gloucester engaged small craft off the Libyan city of Tobruk. The following day, the Italians' grudgingly admitted the loss of one ship.
Later that month, on the 28th, the 7th Cruiser Squadron comprising the ships - Orion, Neptune, Sydney, Gloucester and Liverpool - sighted and engaged three Italian destroyers south-west of Cape Matapan. The action was at long range, resulting in one Italian destroyer, the Espero being sunk.
On 14th October 1940, the Liverpool was torpedoed by enemy aircraft in an action south-east of Crete, seriously damaging her. She was towed to the Egyptian city of [Alexandria]] for repairs and did not get upto sea worthiness till April 1941. She then headed for the American city of San Francisco for permanent repairs. Returning home in Spring 1942 she covered the chilly and unforgiving Arctic convoys during April and May that year.
The Liverpool joined the Malta convoys in June 1942, but was again torpedoed by aircraft on 14th June and had to be towed to the British territory of Gibraltar. Temporary repairs were carried out before she proceeded to Rosyth for permanent repair. She spent three years there before returning to service, thus knocking her out for the duration of the war. The Liverpool then went to the Mediterranean but was put into reserve at Portsmouth in 1952. She was finally broken up in 1958 having gained many battle honours in WWII. These were - Mediterranean 1940, Calabria 1940, Arctic 1942, and Malta Convoys 1942. HMS Liverpool is shown here, in her prime in 1939:
HMS Liverpool has fired what is believed to be the first salvo of Sea Dart missiles in well over a decade, along with possibly the second only salvo ever. The firing took place approximately 250 miles south-west of the Scilly Isles on September 8th 2002 against a sea skimming target. Liverpool proved the potency and effectiveness of the Sea Dart missile, as well as Liverpool's system after she had been in an eighteen month refit in Rosyth Royal Dockyard. She recently took part in the Royal Navy Task force that was sent to the Persian Gulf for the 2003 Iraq War. HMS Liverpool remains a proud and venerable warship of the Royal Navy, battling on faithfully, along with her crew, regardless of her age.
Liverpool (Batch 2) statistics, note some statistics will differ from Batch 3 of the Type 42:
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Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
114mm (4.5 inch) Mk 8 gun
2 x 20mm Close range guns
2 x Vulcan Phalanx close in weapons system (CIWS)
2 x Triple anti submarine torpedo tubes
NATO Seagnat and DLF3 Decoy Launchers
