HMS Kent (D12)
HMS Kent, c. 1963 (IWM) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Kent |
| Namesake | Kent |
| Ordered | 6 February 1957 |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff, Belfast |
| Laid down | 1 March 1960 |
| Launched | 27 September 1961 |
| Commissioned | 15 August 1963 |
| Decommissioned | 1980 |
| Stricken | 1993 |
| Identification | Pennant number: D12 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap in 1998 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | County-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 6,200 tons (6,800 tons full load) |
| Length | 158.6 m (520 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 53 ft (16 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Propulsion | COSAG (Combined steam and gas) turbines, 2 shafts |
| Speed | 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h) |
| Range | 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) |
| Complement | 470 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1× Lynx or Wessex helicopter |
| Aviation facilities | Flight deck and enclosed hangar for embarking one helicopter |
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HMS Kent was a batch-1 County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters were equipped with the Sea Slug Mk-1 medium-range surface-to-air missile SAM system, along with the short-range Sea Cat SAM, two twin 4.5-inch gun turrets, two single 20mm cannon, ASW torpedo tubes, and a platform and hangar that allowed her to operate one Wessex helicopter. The County class were large ships, with good seakeeping abilities and long range, and were ideal blue-water ships for their time.