From the town Arms and motto: The Crest - Per pale red and blue; a demi-lion passant guardant gold conjoined with a fish tail silver. Motto " Rex et jura nostra " - " Our King and Laws"
Battle Honours.

Lowestoft 1665		Orforness 1666
Sole Bay 1672		Schooneveld 1673
Texel 1673		Gibraltar 1704
Velez Malage 1704		Finisterre 1747
Ushant 1747		Sadras 1758
Negatapatam 1758		Porto Novo 1759
The Saints 1782		Jutland 1916
Falkland Islands 1982

There have been eight ships of the Royal Navy bearing the name Yarmouth.
First  Second  Third  Fourth  Fifth  Sixth  Seventh  Eighth


First Yarmouth HMS YARMOUTH 1691-1707 3rd Rate 70guns

Length of gundeck		150' 10"
Length of keel		123' 11"
Beam		40' 1"
Depth of hold		16' 11"
Displacement		1059 tons
Armament		1691		1703		1704
Gundeck		26 X 24 pounders		24 X 24		26 X 24
Upper deck		26 X 12 pounders		26 X 12		26 X 18
Quarterdeck		12 X 6 pounders		12 X 6		14 sakers
Forecastle		4 X 6 pounders		4 X 6
Round house		4 X 3 pounders		4 X 3		4 X 3
Complement		320 in peace time
		440 in war time
Built by		Barrett of Harwich
Ordered		23rd January 1691
Launched		7th January 1695

The vessel was broken up in 1707

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The ship was hulked at Portsmouth in 1740 and then broken up in 1768

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The ship was re-classed as a 74 gun ship in 1781 for local service and then became a receiving ship at Plymouth. She was hulked in 1783 and sold in 1801.

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This craft was a lighter built by Preston of Great Yarmouth.
She started life at Deptford Dockyard, then served in Woolwich Dockyard and may have spent some time in Chatham Dockyard.

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This ship was taken at the surrender of Copenhagen in 1807. She was brought to England and found not to be seaworthy. She then served in Portsmouth Dockyard as a prison ship after being hulked in 1812 and was eventually was broken up in 1816.

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Yarmouth was attached to the 4th Battle Squadron at Home 1912-13 and served on the China Station 1913-14.
Took part in the hunt for the German Raider Emden which was destroyed by the Royal Australian Cruiser Sydney at the Cocos Islands on the 9th November 1914 - she also captured one of Emden's colliers and sank another.
Joined the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron which was part of the Grand Fleet 1914-15.
3rd Light Cruiser Squadron from February 1915-18.
Joined the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron from 1918 to 1919.
Became the Flagship at the Cape of Good Hope 1919.
Went into refit 1919.
Joined the 7th Light Cruiser Squadron on the South America Station 1919-20.
Placed in the Reserve at the Nore 1920-22.
Attached to the Signal School in Portsmouth 1922-24.
Went into refit 1924-25.
From 1925 to 1927 she was used for Trooping.
The ship was, for the second time, attached to the Signal School at Portsmouth.
In 1928 she became the Flagship of Rear Admiral Submarines at Falmouth.
Sold in 1929 to Alloa in Rosyth.

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The ship first commissioned on the 24th March 1960 to become the leader of the 6th Frigate Squadron. She returned to the UK after a year in the East of Suez arriving home on the 11th December 1961. She then underwent refit at Devonport.

From July 1962 until April 1966 she was the leader of the 20th Frigate Squadron working out of Londonderry.


On 13th July 1965 Yarmouth was in collision with the submarine HMSM Tiptoe during exercises off Portland and returned to Portsmouth.




May 1966 to September 1968 the ship went into refit in Portsmouth to be modernised with a flight deck to take a Wasp helicopter. The ship Recommissioned on the 1st October 1968.

June 1969 - Yarmouth returned East of Suez as part of the 1st Destroyer Squadron.

On 9th November 1970 Yarmouth was doing the duty of plane guard for HMS Ark Royal when the carrier was in collision with a Russian "Kotlin" class destroyer.

In January 1973 she took part in the Cod War of Iceland.

Yarmouth was Guard Ship in Gibraltar during February 1973 then became part of NATO'S Standing Force Atlantic.

August 1974 to May 1975 - the ship was taken in hand at Rosyth for refit.

March 1976 saw the ship once again in Rosyth for repairs after being in collision with the Icelandic gun boats Thor and Buldur.

On the 24th 1978 the ship arrived at Rosyth for a major refit and remained there until 1981.

I served in HMS Yarmouth from the 13th of January 1981 until 11th July 1983; a total of 31 months, joining whilst she was still in refit at Rosyth.

January through to May was spent doing trials and training and also getting the ship ready for sea. The completion date for the refit was 29th May 1981.

The week-end 6th and 7th June was Navy Days at Rosyth.

Recommissioning took place on Friday 19th June 1981.

September and October were spent in Portland, then round to Plymouth. We picked up the Officers under training who were doing their navigation course and this was the sea going part of it. The trip finished in Newcastle and then to Rosyth for leave.

January and February was an Assisted Maintance Period in Rosyth then south to Portland and Devonport.

March 1982 - we took part in Exercise Spring-train and on completion of this Yarmouth and Broadsword went to East of Suez - little did we know what was round the corner. Both ships left Gibraltar after a short visit and were heading towards Malta when they were turned back to Gibraltar to take on was stores and ammunition and also a surgeon Lieutenant.

We sailed Gibraltar on the 9th April 1982 and started the journey to the Falkland Islands.

For my diary of HMS Yarmouth and The Falklands Conflict please follow this link.

Following out return August, September and October are spent in the dockyard for repairs. Sea trial are carried out on 18th October.

27th and 28th October we go to the assistance of the P&O Ferry Ola which is on fire. I am part of the boarding party and stay with the ship until she is towed into Glasgow. The rest of the month is spent working up and trials with some of our submarines, and then to Portland for a work up.

After Portland it is over to Bordeaux for a run ashore, then to Plymouth to pick up a navigation training class and work with them on our way back to Rosyth for leave.

After leave we go to Gibraltar then start our West Indies Tour which will take us to Ponta Delgada, Bermuda, Key West in Florida, Ochis Rios in Jamaica, Belize, Tampico in Mexico, Corpus Christi in Texas, Key West, Grand Cayman, Kingston in Jamaica, Belize, Freeport in Grand Bahama, Baltimore in Maryland USA, San Juan in Puerto Rico, St Croix in the American Virgin Islands and then back to the UK. We enter Rosyth on the 18th June 1983. This is the last time that I was to enter harbour on a Grey Funnel Line Ship as I was to go on draft on the 5th of July to HMS Vernon to finish my time in the Royal Navy. I remained in Vernon until the 30th May 1989 when I left the service.

Yarmouth was towed from Rosyth on the 16th August 1987 and sunk as a target.

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