PNS Tariq (DDG-181) is the lead ship of the Tariq-class destroyers in the Surface Command of the Pakistan Navy. Prior to be commissioned in the Pakistan Navy, she served in the Royal Navy, formerly designated as HMS Ambuscade as a general purpose frigate.[3]

Tariq (DDG 181) (front of USS Pearl Harbor, the last ship in the background) on the fourth row of the formation led by USS Ingraham, participating in the naval drill in the Mediterranean Sea in 2005.
History
Pakistan
Name	PNS Tariq
Namesake	Tariq ibn Ziyad[1]
Builder	Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotland
Yard number	1008
Laid down	1 September 1971
Launched	18 January 1973
Acquired	28 July 1993
Recommissioned	1 January 1993
Homeport	Naval Base Karachi
Identification	Pennant number: D-181
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Tariq-class frigate
Displacement	3,700 long tons (3,759 t) full load
Length	384 ft (117 m)
Beam	41 ft 9 in (12.73 m)
Draught	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion	COGOG: 2 × Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbines 2 × Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1A gas turbines for cruising
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement	192, 14 officers, 178 enlisted: contents [2]
Armament	1 × Vickers 4.5 in (114 mm)/55 Mk.8 AS/AA gun (25rds/min to 22 km/11.9nmi) 1 × Phalanx CIWS 4 × 6-cell LY-60N SAM launcher 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannon
Aircraft carried	1 × Lynx HAS.3 helicopter
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and hangar

Designed and constructed by the Yarrow Shipbuilders, Ltd. at Glasgow in Scotland in 1975, she underwent an extensive modernization and mid-life upgrade program by the KSEW Ltd. at the Naval Base Karachi in 1998–2002.[3]

Service history

Acquisition, construction, and modernization

Before commissioning in the Pakistan Navy, she served in the Royal Navy as HMS Ambuscade, saw active military operations during the United Kingdom's Falklands War with Argentina in 1980s.[4] She was lead ship based on the Type 21/Amazon design and was constructed by the Yarrow Shipbuilders, Ltd. in Glasgow in Scotland in 1973–75.[5]

After the successful negotiations took place between Pakistan and the United Kingdom to procure the entire fleet of Type 21/Amazon frigates, she was decommissioned by the Royal Navy and a contingent of Pakistan Navy's personnel under Commander Muhammad Anwar arrived to received training of her operations.^: 126[6] She was commissioned in the services of Pakistan Navy on 28 July 1993 at the Port of Plymouth in England, reporting to its Naval Base Karachi on 18 November 1993.[7]

She was namesake after Tariq ibn Ziyad, the commander who led the Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711–718 A.D.[8]

The Royal Navy did not transfer either the Exocet and Seacat missiles, which were removed prior to arriving at Karachi but the Westland Lynx helicopters remained with the ship. The modernization of the ship was performed by KSEW Ltd which later installed the Phalanx system in place of the Seacat missiles as well as the Mk. 36 SRBOC launchers and 20 mm and 30 mm guns were fitted.[8]

Her wartime performance included in deployments in patrolling off the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea as well as deploying in the Mediterranean Sea when she was part of the multinational military exercise with the U.S. Navy in 2005.[9]

In December 2021, it was announced that when decommissioned, Tariq will be transferred back to the United Kingdom into private ownership for preservation as a museum ship in Scotland.[10]

Gallery

• 
  The Pakistan Navy's enlists wearing the anti-flash gear observing the VBSS drill under the Pakistan Navy SSGN and the U.S. Navy SEALs during CTF-150 operations in the Gulf of Oman in 2005.
• 
  The Pakistan Navy's Master-at-Arms observes the VBBS drill holding on the naval gun in Gulf of Oman in 2005.
• 
  The Pakistan Navy SSGN performing the VBSS drill aboard PNS Tariq in 2005.
• 
  A SH-60 Seahawk helicopter preparing to land on the flight deck of USS Ingraham, leading the task force of Egyptian and Pakistan Navy during the Operation Bright Star in the Mediterranean Sea in 2005. Tariq is in the fourth row in front of USS Pearl Harbor, the last ship of this column.

References

External links

• "PNS Tariq". www.paknavy.gov.pk. ISPR Navy. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
• "Tariq (Amazon) Class (TYPE 21) (DD/FF) « PakDef Military Consortium". pakdef.org.