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| HMS Diomede aux Falklands, vu du cockpit d'un hélicoptère à l'approche. Diomede seen from the cockpit of a Wasp helicopter. Carte postale de la collection Falklands Task Force, Sovereign Series N°7 (collection agence Adhémar) |
En 1972, elle participe à la Seconde Guerre de la morue contre l'Islande. La même année, elle rejoint le 3e escadron de frégates basé en Extrême-Orient. En 1974, elle participe avec le task group 317.2 à la visite controversée en Afrique du Sud alors encore sous le régime de l'apartheid. Au retour de sa tournée en Asie et d'exercices avec la marine brésiliennne, le task group évitera de s'arrêter une deuxième fois dans l'Etat ségrégationniste. Diomede est de retour au Royaume-Uni en juin 1975.
Les années suivantes, la frégate rejoint l'escadron de protection des zones de pêche, ce qui lui donne l'occasion de participer à la Troisième Guerre de la morue. Au cours de celle-ci, en février, Diomede a été éperonné par la canonnière islandaise Baldur qui se livra à l'exercice plusieurs fois pendant cette guerre et, un mois après, de nouveau avec la frégate britannique qu'elle éperonnera encore un mois après ! Entre-temps, Diomede avait également subi l'attaque d'une autre canonnière islandaise, Tyr. En 1977, Diomede participe à une revue pour le jubilée de la reine Elizabeth II au sein du 3e escadron de frégates. La même année, avec six autres frégates de la même classe, elle est la vedette d'un film, HMS Hero, dans la série Warship de la BBC.
Alors que ses travaux de modernisation sont interrompus – elle devait recevoir des Exocet et des Sea Wolf –, et qu'elle prenait la voie de la réserve, la guerre des Malouines de 1982 lui redonne de l'intérêt et elle est envoyé en patrouille dans le golfe Persique. Diodeme rejoindra l'Atlantique Sud en 1985 seulement pour des missions de surveillance au alentours des îles Falklands (Malouines).
En 1986, elle escorte le yacht royal Britannia dans une tournée aux Antilles.
Deux ans après, Diomede est retiré du service et vendu au Pakistan où il prend le nom de PNS Shamsheer et servira plusieurs années avant d'être démoli.
HMS Diomede (F16) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow. Diomede was launched on 15 April 1969 and commissioned on 2 April 1971. Her nickname was "Dimweed".
In 1972, Diomede took part in the Second Cod War during the fishing dispute with Iceland, though thankfully Diomede's involvement was more quiet than her involvement in the subsequent Cod War. Also that year, Diomede joined the 3rd Frigate Squadron which was then based in the Far East.
In 1974, Diomede, took part in Task Group (TG) 317.2 which was a deployment that caused some controversy back in the UK when the TG, on its way to the Far East/Pacific, visited South Africa, which was at that time under apartheid rule, as well as performing military exercises with the South African armed forces. Diomede, along with the nuclear submarine Warspite, visited the port of Simonstown while the rest of the TG visited Cape Town. The TG, upon reaching the Far East performed a number of exercises and 'fly the flag' visits with Far East and Pacific countries. They did not visit South Africa on their return, and headed to Brazil for an exercise with the Brazilian Navy. Diomede returned to the UK in June 1975.
The following year, Diomede joined the Fishery Protection Squadron, and took part in the Third Cod War. During that 'war' in February, Diomede was rammed by the Icelandic gunboat Baldur, which performed a number of similar incidents to many ships during the Cod Wars. The following month, Diomede was involved in a similar incident with the same gunboat and just three days after that incident was again rammed by another gunboat, the Tyr, equally notorious to the RN during the Cod Wars. Astonishingly, later that month, Diomede was rammed once again by Baldur.
In 1977, Diomede took part in the Fleet Review, in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee as part of the 3rd Frigate Squadron. This year too, Diomede was one of the seven Leanders used as the fictional "HMS Hero" for the BBC TV drama series Warship.
Her modernisation that would have given her Exocet and Sea Wolf was cancelled due to John Nott's 1981 Defence Review and she was intended to be placed in the Standby Squadron but the decision was repealed due to the 1982 Falklands War. During that year, Diomede was deployed to the Persian Gulf on patrol.
Diomede returned to the South Atlantic in 1985 where she performed a number of patrols in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands as well as visiting the Island of South Georgia.
In 1986 she deployed again to the West Indies as the 'West Indies Guardship' accompanying HM Queen Elizabeth II aboard HMY Britannia. The Queen was so impressed by the way her ships company performed their duties, that she ordered 'splice the mainbrace'.
In 1988, Diomede was decommissioned from the Royal Navy and subsequently sold to Pakistan where she was renamed PNS Shamsheer. PNS Shamsheer continued in service for many years until she was decommissioned by Pakistan Navy and scrapped.