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1967 to 1977 |
1980 to 1991 |
HMS Danae
(F47) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal
Navy (RN). She was, like the rest of the class,
named after a figure of mythology. She was built
by Devonport Dockyard and was launched on the 31st
October 1965 commissioning on the 7th September
1967.
In 1968, Danae
became Gibraltar Guardship and later joined HMY
Britannia her in South America to perform Royal
escort duties. She subsequently undertook a Beira
Patrol, which was designed to prevent oil reaching
landlocked Rhodesia via the then Portuguese colony
of Mozambique, of which the port of Beira there gave
its name to the operation. Danae deployed to the Far
East, remaining in that region until the middle of
1969. She then undertook a Beira Patrol, a routine
duty until it was stopped in 1975.
In 1974, Danae
deployed to the Persian Gulf to patrol that region.
The following year she performed a variety of
duties while in the North Atlantic. In 1977 she
took part in the Royal Navy Fleet Review to
celebrate HM the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Danae was
placed between her sister-ship HMS Euryalus and HMS
Antlelope. Soon after she commenced her
modernisation program, which included the removal of
her single 4.5-in twin turret which was replaced by
the Exocet anti-ship missile system, giving Danae a
powerful surface capability. The amount of SeaCat
missiles she carried was also increased. The
modernisation was completed in 1980. During the
1970's she was used in the BBC TV drama series
Warship.
In 1982, Danae
deployed to the South Atlantic in the tense
aftermath of the Falklands War, where she would
escort the carrier HMS Illustrious. She left later
that year. The following year she returned to the
South Atlantic to undertake a Falkland Islands
patrol, at a time when that region was still very
tense. In 1985 she made yet another journey to
the South Atlantic. In the late 1980's she became
ever more active with NATO's multi-national
squadrons, though she was beginning to show signs
of her increasing age. In 1990, Danae was
decommissioned from the RN and sold to Ecuador and
was renamed Morano Valverde.
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