HMS Cardigan Bay ( K630 ) HMS " Cardigan Bay " was a Bay - class anti - aircraft frigate of the British Royal Navy , named after Cardigan Bay , off the coast of Ceredigion , Wales . The ship was originally ordered from Henry Robb of Leith in 1943 as the " Loch Laxford " , and laid down on 14 April 1944 as Admiralty Job No . J11861 . However the contract was then changed , and the ship was completed to a revised design as a Bay - class anti - aircraft frigate , and launched on 28 December 1944 as " Cardigan Bay " the first Royal Navy ship to carry the name . She was completed on 15 June 1945 . Service history . Mediterranean Fleet . After sea trials , on 18 August 1945 " Cardigan Bay " joined the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta under the command of Commander Colin Maud . She was deployed in the Aegean Sea and at Haifa to intercept immigrant ships bound for Palestine . In July 1947 she escorted SS " President Warfield " ( renamed " Exodus 1947 " ) to Famagusta , Cyprus , after placing a boarding party aboard , and in August escorted the British merchant ships " Ocean Vigour " , " Empire Rival " and " Runnymede Park " to Port - de - Bouc near Marseille , taking the immigrants from " Exodus " back to France . In early 1948 she intercepted the Liberty ship s " Pan York " and " Pan Crescent " on passage from the Black Sea to Palestine with illegal immigrants . " Cardigan Bay " carried out the usual programme of Fleet exercises and visits , also deploying for surveillance operations in the Adriatic Sea following the Corfu Channel Incident , acted as guard ship at Trieste and Aqaba , and performed patrol duties in the Red Sea . In 1948 her pennant number was changed to F630 . Eastern Fleet . In July 1949 , " Cardigan Bay " and sister ship were transferred to the Eastern Fleet , based at Singapore , arriving there in August , for a series of exercises and patrols off Malaya and China , deploying on the Yangtze Patrol with " St Brides Bay " and the sloop in November and December . In October 1950 " Cardigan Bay " was detached for service with the United Nations as part of British and Commonwealth support for naval operations off Korea , sailing from Hong Kong on 17 November to Sasebo to join the UN Naval Task Group . In December she sailed on her first operational deployment off the west coast of Korea supporting UN personnel at Inchon . She remained there until mid - January 1951 , then returned to Sasebo . Released from UN duty , she was deployed at Hong Kong for exercises and guard ship duties until June . She then returned to Sasebo , and began her second Korean tour , patrolling the west coast , supporting the aircraft carrier during coastal bombardments , and preventing movements of enemy shipping . In July she escorted an American LCU to recover wreckage from a Mikoyan MiG - 15 fighter aircraft which had crashed in shallow water south - west of Hanchon . Large parts of the aircraft were recovered using the LCUs crane and smaller components by divers , while " Glory " and the cruiser provided radar and air cover . Further offensive patrols and survey operations in Han River estuary followed until September , when she sailed to Hong Kong to refit . " Cardigan Bay " resumed service with UN Naval Task Force off Korea in January 1952 for patrol duties and naval gunfire support , until April , then sailed for Sasebo and Hong Kong for repairs and Flotilla exercises . In June she returned to Korea for further patrols and bombardments , and acted as an Air Control Ship during flying operations . Released in September she sailed for Hong Kong to refit . Recommissioned for service in the 4th Frigate Squadron on 28 December , in January 1953 " Cardigan Bay " sailed on her fifth tour of service with the UN Task Group off Korea . On 7 April she embarked American General Maxwell D . Taylor and the Commander of the Commonwealth Naval Forces Admiral Alan Scott - Moncrieff , and sailed to Ch ' o - do Island , close to the mouth of the Taedong River to carry out a shore bombardment . Shortly afterwards " Cardigan Bay " was involved in a collision with the Dutch frigate , sustaining some damage to her plating . Further damage was sustained when she was hit by the US Navy tug called in to assist . She sailed for Hong Kong in April for exercises and patrols off the west coast of Malaya supporting of operations against insurgents . In July 1953 an armistice was agreed and hostilities in Korea ended . However " Cardigan Bay " was retained for occasional UN duty on the west coast of Korea into 1955 , also taking part in joint exercises with the United States Navy . She spent the rest of the time deployed at Hong Kong and Singapore , patrolling off Malaya , Borneo and Indonesia . She also took part in various joint exercises with the Royal Thai Navy , Indian Navy Royal Australian Navy , Royal New Zealand Navy , and multi - national exercises with SEATO . In early 1958 she visited New Zealand , calling at Wellington and ports in South Island before resuming service with the Fleet at Singapore and Hong Kong , where she remained until November 1960 . " Cardigan Bay " then sailed for Australia , calling at Townsville , Queensland , then Nouméa , New Caledonia , Suva , Fiji and Apia , Samoa before refuelling at Pearl Harbor on 9 January 1961 . She then sailed for San Francisco , and called at San Diego , Manzanillo , Mexico , and Puntarenas , Costa Rica before transiting the Panama Canal on 23 February . She then called at Cartagena , Colombia , Maracaibo , Venezula , Port of Spain , Trinidad and Bermuda before finally arriving back at Plymouth on 7 April to decommission . " Cardigan Bay " was put into Reserve on 30 May 1961 , and was put on the Disposal List in 1962 . She was sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation ( BISCO ) for breaking - up by West of Scotland Shipbreakers at Troon , Ayrshire , where she arrived in tow on 5 March 1962 .