Seacat was not yet ready, and Plymouth was completed with a single L/60 40 mm Bofors mount aft as a temporary anti-aircraft armament.

On 4 April she intercepted the oil tanker Joanna V, but declined the use of force for diplomatic reasons she failed to prevent the ship from reaching Beira, raising concerns that its 18,700 tons of petroleum could then be sent by pipeline to the rebel British colony of Rhodesia.

After a spell inside a floating dock in Singapore, to clean and repaint her hull, the ship sailed across the Indian Ocean for a six-week stint on the Beira Patrol.

Back in the UK, Plymouth visited various ports around the country including Stornoway and Middlesbrough as part of a Royal Navy recruitment drive.

After the crippled Santa Fe had sailed back into Grytviken harbour and was abandoned by her crew, a scratch force of Royal Marines, SAS and SBS troops was landed to capture the settlement.

Along with Antrim, Plymouth provided naval gunfire support for this force, both ships firing a total of 235 shells, until the Argentinian troops raised the white flag.

[20] On 8 June, the ship was alone in Falkland Sound, returning from a naval gunfire mission, when she was attacked by five Dagger fighter-bombers of Grupo 6 of the Argentine Air Force.

Despite Plymouth firing her 20 mm guns and a Seacat missile, the aircraft dropped eight Mk 82 500 lb bombs, five of which struck home.

[20] All of the bombs failed to explode, but caused extensive damage: one hit the flight deck, detonating a depth charge and starting a fire, one went straight through her funnel and two more destroyed her Limbo anti-submarine mortar.

Plymouth then withdrew to a repair area, where naval personnel on board the oil rig support vessel MV Stena Seaspread assisted in returning her to fighting order.

After assisting in establishing naval control of the harbour she returned briefly to San Carlos before leaving the south Atlantic on 21 June in company with Glamorgan.

In the late 1990s, she was relocated to the Great Float within Birkenhead Docks for display alongside other preserved ships and submarines, where she became the undertaking of Peel Holdings.

[28][29] However the attempt to bring the Type 12 frigate back to Plymouth's Millbay Docks failed after the Associated British Ports withdrew the offer of a berth in January 2007.

[31] In January 2014 campaigners continued to dispute Peel Ports – which owns Mersey Docks – that it had ownership rights to Plymouth.

[32] The action group accused Peel of allowing the condition of Plymouth to worsen in order to make any attempt to move/preserve her appear unfeasible.