The Type 42 or Sheffield class was developed to provide the Royal Navy with a cost-effective, medium-sized guided-missile destroyer focused on fleet air defence. Conceived in the late 1960s after the
HMS Birmingham
ARA Hércules following her conversion
HMS Cardiff was a British Type 42 destroyer and the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named in honour of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff.
HMS Cardiff in Portsmouth, c. 2005
Four SAS troopers rendezvous with Cardiff via airdrop, en route to the islands
Cardiff's helicopter, piloted by Lieutenant Christopher Clayton, practising search and rescue prior to the war
Cardiff's Lynx helicopter, with a Sea Skua missile