laststandonzombieisland

How about two great shots of NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) ships steaming in formation off the Rock of Gibraltar, February 1979.

The flagship destroyer HMCS Iroquois (280) is in the center, carrying a Canadian commodore, Capt.(later RADM) Gordon Lewis “Gordie” Edwards.

Just to the right (her port side) is the British Type 42 class destroyer HMS Sheffield (D 80), which would be lost just three years later in the Falklands War.

On the outside starboard is a Knox-class frigate USS Paul (FF-1080), while outside right is the West German Bundesmarine’s Köln-class frigate Lübeck (F224) with the Leander class frigate HMS Ariadne (F72), and the Dutch Van Speijk-class class (“Dutch Leander“) frigate Zr.Ms. Evertsen (F815) on either side of the Iroquois and Sheffield

Iroquois, a regular in STANAVFORLANT and later SNMG1 service, was kept steaming with a Maple Leaf from her stem until paid off in 2015, capping a 43-year career.

While Lubeck would be retired after 25 years of service, as the Germans tend to like newer ships, she would ironically be joined by Paul as a parts hulk in the Turkish fleet, while Ariadne would go on to a second career in Chile, with the latter sunk as a target in 2004.

Of interest, Evertsen, transferred to Indonesia as KRI Abdul Halim Perdanakusuma (355) in 1989, is still in operation at some 60 years young.

As for SNMG1, it still sails after STANAVFORLANT’s founding some 58 years ago, and was recently in the high north operating within the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group as part of exercise Neptune Strike 25-3.

Among the participating forces are the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72) and Bainbridge (DDG 96), the Royal Danish Navy Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate Niels Jeul (F363), and the Swedish Navy Visby-class corvette HSwMS Helsingborg (K32).