2-359-348 - Worldwide Photography/Heritage-Images

HMS 'Cleopatra' at Devonport frigate complex, Plymouth, Devon, 1977. The Devonport frigate complex was completed in 1977 and continues to provide a covered refitting facility for frigates and destroyers. In the photograph, HMS 'Cleopatra' (F28) births in the covered dock. The ship was built at Devonport and launched in 1964, joining the Beira Patrol, which prevented oil from reaching landlocked Rhodesia via the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The 'Cleopatra' aslo took part in the fleet review for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in the year the photograph was taken. By the early 1980s, the frigate was starting to show its age and was decommisioned on 31st January 1982 and was sold for scrap the following year.