HMNZS Canterbury (F421)

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HMNZS Canterbury was one of two broad beam Leander-class frigates operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1971 to 2005. She was built in Scotland and launched in 1970. Commissioned in 1971, Canterbury saw operational service in much of Australasia and other regions like the Persian Gulf. She undertook operations such as supporting UN sanctions against Iraq and peace-keeping in East Timor. With her sister ship HMNZS Waikato she relieved the Royal Navy frigate in the Indian Ocean during the Falklands War. Early in HMNZS Canterbury's career she relieved the frigate at Moruroa during anti-nuclear protests, in 1973, F 421 being the most effectively insulated frigate, from nuclear fallout, with the Improved Broad Beam Leander steam plant, for e.g., being remote controlled and capable of unmanned operation and therefore the ship a more effective sealed citadel for operations in areas of nuclear explosions.Canterbury was decommissioned in 2005. In 2007 she was scuttled in the Bay of Islands to provide a dive wreck. She lies in of water.Operational historyCanterbury was the RNZN's fourth Type 12 frigate. She was laid down on 12 June 1969 by Yarrow Shipbuilders and launched 11 months later on 6 May 1970. She was the last Leander-class frigate and the last steam-driven warship to serve in New Zealand. The order for the ship went ahead after some controversy and doubt generated by the then Minister of Finance, Robert Muldoon. She was built at the end of the production line for Leanders to fit in with a British Government programme requiring seven more Leanders to be built for the Royal Navy, the RNZN and the Chilean Navy within 2.5 years using a modular construction.