British General Purpose Frigates
Entries in bold indicate photos.
Type 81 Tribal Class
|
F117 Ashanti F119 Eskimo F122 Ghurka F125 Mohawk F131 Nubian F133 Tartar F124 Zulu |
With the increasing cost of specialist AS frigates, the Tribals were designed as a cheaper general purpose design. They were the first major British warships to be built with gas turbines. |
Mermaid Class
| F76 Mermaid | Originally built for the Ghanian navy as the Black Star, the ship was cancelled when President Nkrumah was deposed. After several years at anchor, she was purchased by the Royal Navy. |
Type 12M Leander Class Batch 1
|
F114 Ajax F38 Arethusa F10 Aurora F104 Dido F15 Euryalus F18 Galatea F109 Leander F39 Naiad |
The policy of building specialised frigates was effective, but expensive. The Leanders
were built as general purpose designs with standardised weapons and sensors.
Accomodation was greatly improved, and the engines were also of a new design, known
as Y100.
All were built with VDS wells, and all except Ajax, Euryalus and Galatea were fitted with the sonar itself. All the batch 1 ships were refitted with the Ikara AS rocket replacing the 4.5" guns. |
Type 12M Leander Class Batch 2
|
F56 Argonaut F28 Cleopatra F47 Danae F52 Juno F45 Minerva F127 Penelope F42 Phoebe F40 Sirius |
The batch 2 ships were built to the batch 1 design, but with a different engine
room layout known as the Y136 design. They were refitted with 4 Exocets
replacing the gun turret.
Although all were completed with a VDS well, only Cleopatra was fitted with the sonar itself. |
Type 12M Leander Class Batch 3
|
F12 Achilles F57 Andromeda F70 Apollo F72 Ariadne F69 Bacchante F75 Charybdis F16 Diomede F58 Hermione F60 Jupiter F71 Scylla |
The batch 3 ships were based on the previous ships, but with an increased beam to
improve stability and internal space. Five of the class were refitted with
Exocet and SeaWolf, and all recieved an extra 20mm gun. The machinery on these
ships was know as Y150.
Scylla, Achilles, Diomede, Apollo and Ariadne were completed without a VDS well. |
Type 21 Amazon Class
|
F171 Active F174 Alacrity F169 Amazon F172 Ambuscade F170 Antelope F184 Ardent F173 Arrow F185 Avenger |
The Amazons were the first Royal Navy warships designed by a private company
since 1945. They were much criticised for lack of armament and too much topweight, but
have proved popular in service.
All 6 survivors of the Falklands war were fitted with metal strips welded to the sides of the ships to stop cracks developing due to stress. All were sold to Pakistan in 1994. |
Type 22 Broadsword Class Batch 1
|
F89 Battleaxe F91 Brazen F90 Brilliant F88 Broadsword |
The Type 22s were built as a replacement for the Leanders. Although geared for AS work, they have a good all round capability as well. |
Type 22 Boxer Class Batch 2
|
F93 Beaver F92 Boxer F94 Brave F98 Coventry F95 London F96 Sheffield |
The Batch 2 ships were 55ft longer than the Batch 1 ship, the extra space mostly being given to sonar equipment. |
Type 22 Cornwall Class Batch 3
|
F86 Campbeltown F87 Chatham F99 Cornwall F85 Cumberland |
The Batch 3 ships were a considerable improvement on the others. Exocet was removed in favour of Harpoon, and mounting twice as many. They also introduced the GoalKeeper CIWS. New engines were installed in all the Batch, having been tested in the Batch 2 ship Brave. |
Type 23 Duke Class
|
F231 Argyll F80 Grafton F234 Iron Duke F78 Kent F229 Lancaster F233 Marlborough F235 Monmouth F236 Montrose F230 Norfolk F238 Northumberland F79 Portland F239 Richmond F82 Somerset F83 St. Albans F81 Sutherland F237 Westminster |
These are the latest frigates in the Royal Navy, and incorporate unusual CODLAG propulsion for quietness, and a superstructure designed to reduce radar returns. They may be refitted with a new towed array in the near future. |
|
Back. |