HMS Dalrymple (K427) - Service History

Service History

Dalrymple was commissioned for service on 10 February 1948 and after sea trials, sailed for the Mediterranean. She spent much of her career in the Persian Gulf, often with Owen, as well as carrying our extensive surveys of the Grand Harbour at Valletta, the Malta Channel and the Strait of Sicily. She also spent some time in the Indian Ocean, mostly working around Zanzibar. During "Operation Musketeer" (the Suez invasion) in late 1956, she was deployed at Port Said, clearing obstructions from the Suez Canal.

In 1957 Dalrymple operated off the West Coast of Scotland, carrying out trials of a new radio-location system, before being extensively refitted, with improved radar, working spaces, messing and crew accommodation. Dalrymple then returned to the Persian Gulf for further surveys. She also operated off Cyprus in 1962, and served as Guard ship at Gan in the Maldives in early 1963. She then returned to the UK, remaining in home waters and surveying the North-West Approaches, particularly around Rockall and the coast of Northern Ireland. The ship sailed into Plymouth on 28 November 1965 for her final return after 17 years surveying service. She was put into Reserve on 2 February 1966 and placed on Disposal List.

Dalrymple was sold to Portugal in March 1966, who had already bought four other frigates of the same class (Bigbury Bay, Burghead Bay, Morecambe Bay and Mounts Bay), and renamed NRP Afonso de Albuquerque. She continued to be used as a survey ship, operating on the Portuguese coast and around the Azores and the Madeira Islands. Decommissioned on 14 January 1983, the ship was used as an accommodation ship at Lisbon Dockyard up until 1988. After her use as accommodation, she was towed and dumped in the Atlantic Ocean.