Occasionally, in the 90’s and 00’s, the Royal Navy would dispose of special bells, tread plates and badges in auction houses like Phillips, Bonhams and Portsmouth auctioneers Nesbits. This, the screen badge from Falklands hero HMS Cardiff, was one of those special pieces. In resin and beautifully weathered, an important piece of insignia from a very important ship. HMS Cardiff (D108) was a Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after Cardiff. She was laid down in 1972, launched in 1974, and commissioned in 1979.

Her service included the 1982 Falklands War, where she provided anti‑aircraft cover, fired her 4.5‑inch gun in support of land operations, shot down the last Argentine aircraft of the war, and accepted the surrender of a 700‑strong Argentine garrison at Port Howard. She also was involved in a friendly‑fire incident, accidentally shooting down a British Army Gazelle helicopter. Later, in the 1991 Gulf War, her Lynx helicopter sank two Iraqi minesweepers. She took part in the Armilla patrol in the build‑up to the 2003 Iraq invasion (though not in the actual invasion itself).