HISTORIC

The destroyer” King Ferdinand”

The ace of cups of the Romanian Royal Navy

HMS COVENTRY
HMS Coventry, type 22 frigate (Batch 2), was built by the Swan Hunter shipyard in England. Shipbuilding began in 1984 and was launched in April 1986, when it was manned. He entered service in October 1988, with boarding number F98. She was effectively employed in the Royal Navy service, being deployed in many areas, from the Arabian Gulf and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean Sea, where, during her last mission, in November 2001, she played a decisive role in the seizure of a transport of 40 million pounds of cocaine. It covered 425,776 Mm and sailed a duration exceeding 30,000 hours, which means a sea use rate of 25% per year. She was deployed to the Royal Navy Force in Kosovo in 1999, and at the end of the same year continued to represent Britain's contribution to NATO's Atlantic Naval Force. He left the Royal Navy in January 2002.
Starting with 2003, it entered a regeneration and modernization program to be taken over by the Romanian Naval Forces.

Frigate "KING FERDINAND" (F 221)
By Decision no. 1423 of December 12, 2002, pursuant to art. 107 of the Constitution, of art. 7 of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 60/2001 on public procurement, approved with amendments and completions by Law no. 212, art.2 lit. f, art.35 paragraph 1 and art.37 paragraph 4 of the Public Debt Law no. 81/1999, the Romanian Government approved the acquisition by the Ministry of National Defense of two type 22 frigates, made available by the British Royal Navy and stage I of their regeneration and modernization, by negotiation with a single source, from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. By Order of the General Staff number B5 / S / 1609 of 30.07.2003, on September 1, 2003, the frigate King Ferdinand, the first English frigate type 22, was established under the direct subordination of the Naval Operational Command, having a deployment in the Constanţa garrison.

On 01.05.2004, the personnel selected and prepared for the positions of the frigate King Ferdinand was appointed, by orders of the Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces no. M.O. 46 / 28.04.2004, M.M. 47 / 28.04.2004, M.S. 24 / 28.08.2004, and on 01.06.2004 the crew was set up in the location of the Naval Academy, respectively of the Application School, in order to carry out the activities of preparation, structural operationalization and reception of the ship. The full crew of the ship met at Portsmouth aboard the barge Cornelius Drebell from 2 to 7 July 2004 to receive the ship and conduct centralized training under the guidance of BAE SYSTEM and FORMER FLAG OFFICER SEA TRAINING assessment teams. On 03.09.2004, in accordance with the acquisition agreement and the business plan of the King Ferdinand Frigate Acceptance Commission, the final acceptance documents of the ship were signed, which passed under the authority of the Romanian state, and the Romanian sailors settled on board. On September 9, 2004, the ship's flag was conferred in a festive setting on the birth of Victory Jetty in the port of Portsmouth / Great Britain. On this occasion the ship was given the name of King Ferdinand and the boarding number F 221. The commissioning ceremony was attended by the President of Romania Ion Iliescu, the Minister of National Defense Ioan Mircea Paşcu, the Chief of General Staff General Dr. Mihail Popescu and the Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces, Rear Admiral Dr. Gheorghe Marin. The British side was represented by Lord Bach of Lutterworth, Minister for Endowment, Vice Admiral James Burnell Nugent of the Royal Navy, Sir Charles Mansfield, President of BAE Systems, representatives of Fleet Support Limited and Rolls Royce. She left the port of Portsmouth on November 26, 2004, at 1:30 p.m., and landed in the port of Constanta on Friday, December 10, 2004, being escorted to the entrance to the port by two helicopters and warships. He came under the command of the Naval Operational Command. On 01.07.2006, based on the Order of the Minister of National Defense no. M.S.28 of 20.02.2006 the frigate King Ferdinand passes from the subordination of the Naval Operational Command to the subordination of the 56th Frigate Flotilla. The ship was commanded by the Constanţa military port, taking over the flag of the AMIRAL SHIP of the Romanian Naval Forces. In 2005 it was the first Romanian ship to participate in Operation NATO (art. 5) Active Endeavor. Between 14-19.11.2008 he paid an official visit to Israel, the port of Haifa, the first visit of a Romanian ship in this country. On November 25, 2008, he received the Emblem of Honor of the Naval Forces from the Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces. It has obtained international accreditations level I (2007) and level II (2008) on interoperability with North Atlantic Alliance ships, a certification that allows type 22 frigates to participate together with NATO ships in all types of international missions.

In March 2007, on board the frigate, the IAR Ghimbav specialists together with the soldiers of the Helicopter Group performed the testing / homologation of the IAR 330 PUMA Naval helicopter. Between November 10-11, 2009, for the first time for the Romanian Naval Forces, the air combat service was included in the crew of the frigate King Ferdinand. Through the Documentary Note of the Historical Service of the Army with no. A 3471 of 15 July 2010, the frigate King Ferdinand is recognized as a continuation of the traditions of the destroyer King Ferdinand, entered service on 07.09.1930 (ship's day).