Name HMS Malcolm Commissioned 12 December 1957 Fate Scrapped in 1978 Launched 18 October 1955 Weight 1,199 tons Tons burthen 1.321 million kg | Laid down 1 February 1954 Identification Pennant number F88 Construction started 1 February 1954 Length 94 m Draft 4.6 m Builder Yarrow Shipbuilders | |
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Namesake Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, GCB and GCMG | ||
HMS Malcolm was a Blackwood-class anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy, commissioned on 12 December 1957 and decommissioned in 1978. She the second and final Royal Navy ship to be bear the name Malcolm and was named after Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm.
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The Cod Wars
Just after she was commissioned, a dispute started in the North Atlantic. Relations between the United Kingdom and Iceland deteriorated and there was concern that the Landhelgisgæsla (the Icelandic Coast Guard) might threaten British fishermen.
Malcolm was part of a five-ship group that was deployed to Iceland for "fishery protection duties" in what became known as the Cod Wars. She operated out of Edinburgh during the first Cod War, and from Rosyth after that.
In December 1970, Kevin McNamara MP raised concerns that Malcolm would not be replaced by another frigate after its return to home waters, stressing that Malcolm's medical support was essential to fishing operations off Iceland. The Ministry of Defence decided not to replace Malcolm immediately, probably because the situation had calmed somewhat (1970 was between the first and second Cod Wars). Responsibility for supporting the fishing fleet was henceforth the Department of Trade and Industry's.
The dispute ended in 1976 in a face-saving treaty and victory for Iceland. Two years later, Malcolm was decommissioned. She was considered too small to act as a modern frigate and therefore unable to continue service into the 1980s.