HMS Llandaff was a Salisbury-class (or Type 61) aircraft direction frigate of the British Royal Navy, constructed by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn on the River Tyne. Laid down on 27 August 1953 and launched on 30 November 1955 by Countess Mountbatten, the ship was named after the district of Llandaff in Cardiff, Wales. As part of a follow-on order of three Salisbury-class frigates, Llandaff represented a key element of post-war British naval development focused on air direction capabilities. The vessel experienced a notable early mishap on 1 March 1956, when she broke free from her moorings during a storm, resulting in collisions with the cruiser HMS Bermuda, the frigate HMS Russell, and a merchant ship. Despite sustaining damage, Llandaff was repaired and entered service on 11 April 1958. Upon commissioning, she became the first ship to be trained by the newly established Flag Officer Sea Training organization at Portland, marking her as a significant asset in naval training and readiness. Throughout her service, Llandaff underwent multiple re-commissionings, including a notable fifth re-commissioning at Singapore in 1967, and completed her final UK-based service at Devonport in 1970. During her transit from Singapore to the United Kingdom between June and September 1968, she undertook a diplomatic voyage, visiting locations such as the Solomon Islands, Cairns, Auckland, Fiji, Rotuma, Gilbert Islands, Honolulu, Monterey, Long Beach, the Panama Canal, and Barbados, demonstrating the Royal Navy's presence and reach. In 1976, she was sold to the Bangladeshi Navy and renamed Umar Farooq. Adapted into a training ship, she was modified to include facilities for female officers and sailors. In her subsequent career, she participated in international goodwill visits, including trips to India, Pakistan, and the Maldives in 1989, and played a role in the 1998 Korean International Fleet Review. She also participated in the 2014 search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Decommissioned and sold for scrapping in 2016, Umar Farooq’s long service highlights her evolution from a Cold War-era air direction frigate to a training vessel in the Bangladeshi Navy.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.