HMS Birmingham was a Type 42 destroyer laid down by Cammell Laird and Company, Limited, at Birkenhead on 28 March 1972, launched on 30 July 1973 by Lady Empson, wife of Sir Derek Empson and commissioned on 3 December 1976. She was named for the city of Birmingham, England. In July 1990, whilst on deployment as part of the West Indies Guard Ship, Birmingham, supported by RFA Oakleaf was ordered to sail from Florida to Trinidad in response to the Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt, in which Islamist fundamentalists had taken hostages. However, as the Birmingham arrived the hostages were released.