Iranian frigate Sahand (in Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 سهند), a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-made Vosper

Vosper & Company

Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England.-History:The Company was established in 1871 by Herbert Edward Vosper, concentrating on ship repair and refitting work....

 Mark V class frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 (also known as Alvand class frigate

Alvand class frigate

The Alvand class comprise four Iranian light patrol frigates. Only three are currently in service....

), was commissioned as part of a four-ship order. The ship was originally called Faramarz, named after a character in Ferdosi's Shahnameh

Shahnameh

The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...

. However after the Islamic Revolution it was renamed Sahand, after the Sahand

Sahand

Sahand is a massive, heavily eroded stratovolcano in northwestern Iran. At , it is the highest mountain in the Iranian province of East Azarbaijan....

 volcano.

The Iranian Navy ship was sunk in Operation Praying Mantis

Operation Praying Mantis

Operation Praying Mantis was an attack on April 18, 1988, by U.S. naval forces within Iranian territorial waters in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf during the Iran Iraq war and the subsequent damage to an American warship....

. Located by two American A-6Es of VA-95 steaming roughly ten miles Southwest of Larak Island

Larak Island

Larak Island is an island off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf which has been one of Iran's major oil export point since 1987...

, she was hit by two Harpoon missiles and two AGM-123 Skipper II laser-guided bombs.