Falklands frigate sunk

A ROYAL NAVY frigate which survived repeated attacks from Argentine fighter jets in the Falklands War has been sunk in a Pakistan missile test, writes Marco Giannangeli.

The move has upset former Royal Navy sailors who served on the Type 21 frigates in the Falklands, where two – Ardent and Antelope – were sunk.

HMS Active arrived in the conflict in May 1982 and faced daily attacks in San Carlos water as she escorted landing ships and supply convoys. In 1994 she was decommissioned and sold to Pakistan where she was renamed Shah Jahan.

Her sinking was announced by the Pakistan Navy in Karachi. However, Michael Hill, who was a stoker aboard Active, said: “She survived the Falklands. Sinking her in this way is totally disrespectful to the crew who served aboard her – she should have been cut up, not sunk.”