Originally lead ship (Captain F) of the Devonport-based 8th Frigate Squadron and upon its disbandment in 1993, lead ship of the 2nd Frigate Squadron, HMS
Cornwall had battle honours from
Barfleur in 1692, the
Falkland Islands in 1914 and the
Dardanelles in 1915.
Cornwall was affectionately dubbed "the Fighting Ice Cream" by her crew due to her pennant number of F99. She undertook duties in the North and South Atlantic Ocean, Adriatic, Mediterranean, Caribbean and Baltic Seas throughout her time in service, and completed several patrols to the
Persian Gulf and deployments to the
Far East. During 1988 and 1989 she was commanded by Captain
Chris Wreford-Brown. In 1992 she deployed to the West Indies as West Indies Guard ship, visiting Bermuda, Tortola, Belize, The Bahamas, Pensacola, Key West and Curaçao before making her way home up the East Coast of the US and Canada via Norfolk, Boston and Halifax. In 1993 she deployed to the Gulf with a mid-deployment break to Mombasa in Kenya. 1994 saw her return again to the Gulf but this time visiting Singapore, Penang, Tioman Island and Sri Lanka whilst off station. En route back from the Far East, the ship took the opportunity to stop and lay a wreath at the site of the sinking of the previous , a
County Class heavy cruiser sunk by Japanese dive bombers in April 1942. Between 1996 and 1998 she was commanded by Captain
Anthony Dymock. In February 2011, while operating in the
Gulf of Aden as part of the Combined Maritime Forces, boarding teams from HMS
Cornwall participated in the rescue of five Yemeni fishermen and the capture of 17 Somali pirates from a fishing
dhow, which had been seized by pirates on 11 November 2010. ==Decommissioning and disposal==