HMS Leeds Castle (P258)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Leeds Castle
Ordered	8 August 1980
Builder	Hall, Russell & Company
Laid down	18 October 1979
Launched	29 October 1980
Sponsored by	Lady Speed, wife of then Navy Minister Keith Speed
Commissioned	27 October 1981
Decommissioned	8 August 2005
Identification	Pennant number: P258; IMO number: 7920003;
Fate	Sold to Bangladesh
General characteristics
Class and type	Castle-class patrol vessel
Displacement	1,350 long tons (1,370 t) standard; 1,550 long tons (1,570 t) full load;
Length	81.0 m (265 ft 9 in) oa; 75.0 m (246 ft 1 in) pp;
Beam	11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
Draught	3.42 m (11 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	2 × Ruston 12RKC 5,640 bhp (4,210 kW) diesels, 2 shafts
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) max
Complement	45 (+ accommodation for 25 Royal Marines)
Armament	Oerlikon / BMARC 30 mm L/75 KCB gun on single Laurence Scott DS-30B mount; 4 × L7 General Purpose Machine Guns; 1 × H/PJ-26 76 mm main gun (in Bangladesh service); 4 × C-704 ASHM (in Bangladesh service); 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm auto cannons (in Bangladesh service);
Aircraft carried	Flight deck can support helicopters up to Westland Sea King-size but has operated Chinook which landed athwartship

HMS Leeds Castle (P258) was a Castle-class patrol vessel built by Hall, Russell & Company of Aberdeen, Scotland for the Royal Navy. She was launched in October 1980 and commissioned the following August. She was involved in the 1982 Falklands War, operating between the British territories of Ascension Island, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands as a dispatch vessel commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Colin Hamilton.

The Leeds Castle spent much time performing fishery protection duties around the United Kingdom, as well as being used as a guard ship in the Falkland Islands. In 2000, Leeds Castle underwent an eight-month refit, returning to the fleet in early 2001.

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