RSS Panglima

RSS Panglima underway in the Singapore Strait
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Panglima
Operator	Royal Navy
Builder	United Engineers Ltd
Laid down	1954
Launched	14 January 1956
Commissioned	May 1956
Fate	Transferred to Malaysia
Malaysia
Name	KD Panglima
Operator	Royal Malaysian Navy
Commissioned	22 September 1963
Fate	Transferred to Singapore
Singapore
Name	RSS Panglima
Operator	Republic of Singapore Navy
Commissioned	1 January 1966
Decommissioned	9 July 1991
Identification	Pennant number: P68
Fate	Sold to New West Coast Pte Ltd
General characteristics
Class and type	Ford-class boat
Length	35.7 m (117 ft)
Beam	6.1 m (20 ft)
Propulsion	820 kW
Speed	15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Range	3,000 miles (4,800 km)
Complement	49 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × anti-aircraft gun Anti-submarine depth-chargers

RSS Panglima (P68) was the first ship of the Republic of Singapore Navy. The ship was commissioned in 1956 as HMS Panglima and was the third ship to be given the name. She was regarded as a milestone for the Malayan shipbuilding industry. During her Royal Navy service, the ship hosted distinguished guests such as South Vietnamese vice president Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ and Singapore's first native head of state the Yang di-Pertuan Negara Yusof bin Ishak. She also embarked on numerous goodwill visits to nearby ports and conducted naval training for new sailors.

Upon Singapore's merger to form Malaysia, the ship was recommissioned as KD Panglima in September 1962. She engaged in several minor skirmishes with Indonesia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Singapore's secession on 9 August 1965 led to the ship's recommissioning as RSS Panglima in January 1966.

The ship underwent a major refit prior to being transferred to Midshipman School in 1983 to serve exclusively as a training ship. In 1991, she was decommissioned and sold at auction, after having served in three navies across 35 years of active service. The Naval Military Experts Institute still bears her name today.