HMS Liverpool ( D92 ) HMS " Liverpool " was a Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy . She was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead and launched on 25 September 1980 by Lady Strathcona , wife of Euan Howard , the then Minister of State for Defence . " Liverpool " was the last Type 42 Batch 2 in service . Operational history . " Liverpool " was taken up by the Royal Navy in April 1982 from Cammell Laird . After an accelerated trials period sailed for the South Atlantic in early June 1982 . Though " Liverpool " did not see active service in the Falklands Conflict , she remained on station for the next six months before returning to the UK . " Liverpool " fired what is believed to be the first salvo of Sea Dart missiles in well over a decade , along with possibly the second only salvo ever . The firing took place approximately south - west of the Isles of Scilly on 8 September 2002 , against a sea skimming target to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Sea Dart missile and " Liverpool " s systems following a 12 - month refit at Rosyth Dockyard . She was part of Naval Task Group 03 ( NTG03 ) , intended to take part in exercises in the Far East as part of the Five Power Defence Arrangement . The task force was , instead , sent to the Persian Gulf where they took part in the 2003 Iraq War . In 2005 , " Liverpool " was sent to the Caribbean , where her duties included patrols to crack down on drug smuggling . In 2008 , 18 sailors onboard tested positive for cocaine in a routine drug test . She entered refit in 2009 . On returning to service in 2010 , " Liverpool " acted as an escort to fleet flagship ' s task group during a four - month deployment to the United States and Canada as part of Exercise Auriga . Role In The Evacuation Of Montserrat . After the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1995 , the destroyer played a vital role in the evacuation of Montserrations to nearby Islands as part of an effort which saw 7 , 000 people leave the Island for places such as Antigua and Barbuda ( a 30 mile distance , which was impossible by airplanes at the time due to the destruction of the Blackburne International airport ) . Operation Unified Protector . In late March 2011 , " Liverpool " was ordered to the Mediterranean to relieve Type 22 frigate " Cumberland " as the Royal Navy ' s contribution to Operation Unified Protector , NATO ' s naval blockade of Libya during the country ' s civil war . On 18 April , she intercepted the vessel MV " Setubal Express " heading for Tripoli , conducting a boarding party search with Royal Marines and finding trucks of potential use to the Gaddafi regime . The merchant vessel was ordered to divert to Salerno in Italy . On 12 May 2011 , while engaged in surveillance operations off the coast of the rebel - held Libyan city of Misrata , " Liverpool " came under fire from a shore battery , making her the first Royal Navy warship to be deliberately targeted since the Falklands War . " Liverpool " had been tasked with other NATO warships , to intercept small , high - speed inflatable craft spotted approaching the port of Misrata , the type which had been used previously to lay mines in the Port of Misrata . Libyan rocket artillery on the coast fired an inaccurate salvo of rockets at " Liverpool " . " Liverpool " returned fire with her 4 . 5 inch main gun , silencing the shore battery , in the Royal Navy ' s first use of the weapon since the 2003 invasion of Iraq . On 28 June 2011 , " Liverpool " used her main gun to fire warning shots at pro - Gaddafi maritime forces moving along Libya ' s Mediterranean coast just west of the city of Misrata , amid concerns a threat was posed to civilians due to recent repeated attempts to mine the harbour . After initially ignoring the first shell , a further three were fired and the vessels were forced to return to their port of departure . On the morning of 3 August 2011 , several rockets were fired at " Liverpool " . She returned fire with her 4 . 5 inch main gun . The attack came after the ship had fired a barrage of illumination rounds in support of an air attack on the stronghold of Zliten . On 16 August 2011 , " Liverpool " was involved in the most intense shore - bombardment of the war . " Liverpool " had been tasked by a patrol aircraft to fire illumination rounds over the city of Zlitan . While conducting this mission , " Liverpool " came under fire from a Loyalist shore - battery . " Liverpool " responded by firing three rounds from her 4 . 5 inch gun , silencing the battery . Later on the same day , a patrol aircraft spotted a large pro - Gaddafi vehicle convoy carrying weapons and ammunition . " Liverpool " fired 54 shells from her 4 . 5 inch gun at the convoy , destroying or severely damaging many of the vehicles . During the ensuing chaos on the ground , NATO aircraft destroyed the remainder of the convoy . " Liverpool " returned from Operation Unified Protector on 7 November 2011 , entering Portsmouth Harbour after more than seven months of operations off Libya . She had fired over 200 rounds from her main gun during the conflict . On 7 February 2012 " Liverpool " escorted a Russian task group centred around the aircraft carrier " Admiral Kuznetsov " from the Channel , off south - west England , to the seas off south - west Ireland . The task group of two warships and five support ships were making their way home to the Northern and Baltic Fleet s of the Russian Navy . In March 2012 " Liverpool " took part in Exercise ' Cold Response ' , a NATO winter war games exercise being conducted in northern Norway , where she acted as an escort to the helicopter carrier HMS " Illustrious " and the amphibious assault ship HMS " Bulwark " . The ship made her final visit to the city of Liverpool on 29 February 2012 where on Saturday 3 March and Sunday 4 March 2012 , the general public were invited on deck to look around the ship . She was formally decommissioned on 30 March 2012