Name HMS Ambuscade

1.   What is the vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric? Evidence for designs, functions, techniques, processes, styles, customs and habits or uses and associations in relation to events and people. How early, intact or rare these features are may impact on significance.

F172 HMS AMBUSCADE is a steel hulled frigate built for the Royal Navy in 1972. The class was created to provide a general-purpose escort vessel and gunboat to retain British naval presence overseas.  Designed by Vosper Thornycroft in Southampton, where the first three ships were built, and Yarrows on the Clyde, where AMBUSCADE was built, it was intended as a cheap build project to replace the earlier diesel and combined steam and gas frigates with smaller crewed vessels.  The Type 21 was unique in being the Royal Navy’s first privately designed warship, a fact that still stands to this day.  AMBUSCADE was fitted with sonar and radar equipment, a Vickers gun, two Oerlikons, torpedo tubes, Seacat surface to air missiles, hangar and flight deck which carried a Westland Wasp helicopter, later replaced by a Westland Lynx. Her propulsion took the form of two Rolls Royce Olympus gas turbine engines with a top speed of 30 knots and a range of 1200 nautical miles. The first significant work to her original hull occurred in 1983, following a collision with another ship where part of her bow was torn away and a new one had to be constructed and fitted in Bombay. In late 1984, she underwent a major refit after cracking in her hull and a steel plate was welded down each side of the ship. At the same time, modifications were made to reduce hull noise and four Exocet launchers were added in front of the bridge which were later removed before the sale to Pakistan. AMBUSCADE underwent a basic refit on arrival at Karachi where she was also re-weaponised.  During her service with the Pakistan Navy, she has been maintained to a high standard without further significant conservation work being carried out.

2.   What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence? Associations with people or places. Off-ship research.

HMS AMBUSCADE was one of eight Type 21 'Amazon' Class frigates built for the Royal Navy.  She has strong significance for Scotland, having been constructed by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd at Scotstoun on the Clyde.  AMBUSCADE served with distinction in the Falklands Conflict of 1982, along with six other Type 21 frigates and then went on to be used as a West Indies Guardship between 1983-4.  Her later life brought associations with Pakistan where she was sold following her decommissioning in 1993.  She was recommissioned as PNS TARIQ and, as part of the Pakistan Navy, served off the coast of Somalia engaged in international anti-piracy operations, escorting merchant vessels and giving assistance as necessary.  HMS AMBUSCADE provides a rare example of both a Cold War and Falklands War ship, reflecting an important period in UK history and has clear international significance for both the Royal Navy and Pakistan Navy. Her operational record and crew histories are well documented, with memories captured via a supporting Association comprised of those who served or were affiliated with her.  She is also the sole surviving Royal Navy ship from the Falklands War in largely original condition and now appeals to veterans from across the UK Armed Forces.  In 2023, she was recorded on the Overseas Watch List by National Historic Ships UK to reflect her British origins.

3.   How does the vessel’s shape or form combine and contribute to her function? Overall aesthetic impact of the vessel, her lines, material she was built from and her setting. Does she remain in her working environment?

The Type 21 frigates were known for their distinctive sleek lines and good turn of speed, with their yacht like lines reflecting their commercial design and build.  They were referred to as ‘Greyhounds of the Seas’ due to their legendary speed capability, a feature much enjoyed by the Pakistan Navy crews that served on them.  They had a large superstructure in relation to the volume of the main hull which incorporated for the first time the use of aluminium alloy with the aim of reducing the topweight, a design feature which proved problematic and lacked resilience to fire. Accommodating a reduced complement of 10 officers and 170 ratings, AMBUSCADE boasted better living standards than the naval average. She has now been decommissioned but remains in her operational configuration as used by the Pakistan Navy. Plans are in place for her return to the UK and public display in Scotland, near to the area where she was built, to celebrate the historic relationship between the Clyde and the Royal Navy. She will be sympathetically restored to reflect her dual heritage as a joint cultural naval exhibit for both the UK and Pakistan communities. 

Source: NHS-UK, July 2024