Sad farewell to Burnley's adopted ship HMS Active sunk in Pakistan navy drill

"Burnley's ship", Falklands-veteran HMS Active was sunk during a Pakistan navy live-fire drill in the North Arabian Sea, 27 years after it was transferred to the Pakistan navy.

Commisioned in July 1977, HMS Active was the adopted ship of Burnley and the ship and its crew were granted the freedom of the town in 1989. The ship gave its name to part of the town’s inner ring road. One of her anchors is displayed at the Anchor Retail Park next to Active Way.

A Type 21 frigate, Active saw action in the Falklands War in 1982, but saw an ignominous end when it was used as target practice and sunk during training exercises for the Pakistan navy.

During the Falklands conflict with Argentina, Active shelled Argentine positions during the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, but by the mid-1980s, in common with the other surviving Type 21s, she suffered from hull cracking. She was decomissioned in September 1994 and sold to Pakistan where the ship was renamed Shah Jahan.