HMS Coventry is a Batch 2 Type 22 frigate, which were originally designed as anti-submarine specialists, but which developed into highly-effective all-round warships - their communications fit allows them to function comfortably as a command or flagship.

Coventry was launched in April 1986 on the Tyne, the last of the six Batch 2 Broadsword-class ships, and she was commissioned in October 1988.

She displaces just over 4,800 tons when fully-loaded, and her combined gas turbine main machinery - pairs of Rolls-Royce Olympus and Tyne engines - can push her up to 30 knots, though her sustained cruising speed is 18 knots.

She has a complement of around 260, and is armed with Seawolf surface-to-air missiles, as well as torpedoes and 20mm guns.

She has space on her flight deck for two Lynx - which carry the Sea Skua anti-ship missile - or one Sea King helicopter.

Recent years have seen HMS Coventry, which is part of the Sixth Frigate Squadron in Devonport, serving in a wide range of roles.

In 1999 she was the UK contribution to NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic (SNFL), which took up six months of the year. During the deployment she steamed 25,000 miles, monitored shipping in the Adriatic, paid a visit to Gdynia in Poland and exercised with the Polish navy.

2001 has seen her play pivotal ceremonial roles in two cities badly affected by the Blitz - an appropriate choice, given that the frigate has the Freedom of the City of Coventry, which also suffered at the hands of the Luftwaffe.

The first visit was to Scotland for the 60th anniversary of the Clydebank Blitz, and July saw her in Liverpool for the commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic.

(Ship of the Month: August 1994)

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