Launched by HRH Princess Michael of Kent on the 11 March 1997, the current HMS Penzance was commissioned on 14 May 1998 and is the fourth to bear the name.
The first two ships were small frigates commissioned in 1665 and 1747 respectively. The third was a Bridgewater class sloop launched at Devonport in 1930. Employed on convoy duties, Penzance left Cape Breton, Nova Scotia on 15 August 1940 as the sole escort to a convoy bound for Great Britain. Nine days later intercepted by U37, Penzance was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of her captain and 89 men. Penzance and her crew are commemorated on memorials at Chatham Cathedral and the Cathedral in Trinidad's Port of Spain. Affiliations include Penzance Town Council, Penlee Lifeboat, The Rainbow Ward at West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance Royal Naval Association, Penzance Sea Cadets, The Union Hotel, Larne N.I. and Kimbolton School in Cambridgeshire. Ship's motto- Diligenter Pensa (Diligent thought)Royal Navy Community Site
