Name HMS Tartar Commissioned 26 February 1962 Construction started 22 October 1959 Operation Cod Wars | Laid down 22 October 1959 Decommissioned 29 March 1984 Launched 19 September 1960 | |
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HMS Tartar was a Tribal-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named after the Tartar people, most of whom were located in Asia and Eastern Europe. She was sold to Indonesia in 1984.
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Tartar was built by Devonport Dockyard, at a cost of £4,140,000. She was launched on 19 September 1960 and commissioned on 26 February 1962.
Royal Navy
While in the West Indies in 1963, Tartar provided support to Trinidad after Hurricane Flora struck the Caribbean. In early December, Tartar's crew apprehended nine armed Cuban on board a ship off Cay Sal, Bahamas, where an arms cache was discovered by a ship's party.
Tartar recommissioned on 12 January 1967 under Captain Cameron Rusby and attended Portsmouth Navy Days later that year. The frigate arrived in the Persian Gulf in 1968 via Simonstown, Mombasa and the Seychelles. On the voyage to the Seychelles the fleet auxiliary vessel RFA Ennerdale was lost, having struck a submerged object. Service in the Gulf was followed by a homeward journey via the Beira Patrol lasting six weeks and Cape Town thence to Gibraltar arriving during the talks between Harold Wilson, Prime Minister and Ian Smith from Rhodesia on board the cruiser Tiger.
In 1975, Tartar undertook fishery protection duties in the Barents Sea. She supported operations during the Third Cod War with Iceland. During the dispute, Tartar was rammed by the patrol vessel ICGV Týr on 1 April, and by ICGV Ægir in May. Later that year, in the West Indies, Tartar searched for and located the wreckage of Cubana Flight 455. She was present at the Spithead Fleet Review in 1977, held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. At this time she was part of the 1st Frigate Squadron.
Tartar was reduced to reserve in 1980, being placed in the Standby Squadron. She was taken out of reserve during the Falklands War and restored for active service. The frigate did not deploy to the South Atlantic, however, instead operating in home waters in the absence of other warships. She did deploy to the West Indies as guardship in 1982/1983 for 3 months, spending Christmas and new Year in St Petersburg Florida. In June 1983, Tartar's Westland Wasp helicopter evacuated the six-man crew of the supply ship MV Spearfish, which had collided with an oil rig in the English Channel. As a potential hazard to navigation, Spearfish had to be sunk by the guns of Tartar.
Indonesian Navy
Tartar was decommissioned in 1984 and sold to Indonesia. She was commissioned into the Indonesian Navy as Hasanuddin, so named after a sultan who fought the Dutch. The frigate has since been decommissioned. Her name was given to a Dutch-built Sigma-class corvette.