Amazon Class (1971)

*Amazon* class
	The Avenger
Ship data
country	United Kingdom of Pakistan;
Ship type	frigate
Construction period	1969 to 1978
Launch of the type ship	April 26, 1971
Units built	8th
period of service	Since 1974
Ship dimensions and crew
length	117 m ( Lüa )
width	12.6 m
Draft	Max. 6.0 m
displacement	maximum: 3,250 tn.l.
crew	177 men
Machine system
machine	Combined gas or gas; 2 Rolls Royce Olympus - gas turbines; 2 Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines
Top ; speed	32 kn (59 km / h)
propeller	2
Armament
	1 × 114.3 mm - L / 50 -Mk8- Sk ; 2 x 20 mm - Flak ; 4 × Seacat - aircraft missiles ; 6 × torpedo tube ∅ 533 mm; 1 × Westland Sea Lynx helicopter ;

The Amazon class or the Type 21 was a type of frigate of the Royal Navy and is used by the Pakistani Navy . The lead ship is the HMS Amazon .

history

The Amazon- class frigates were designed as escort ships in the 1960s and built in the 1970s. They were planned as a cheaper replacement for older ships from the post-war era and as an intermediate step to the Broadsword- class frigates . Their design was based on the designs for the Leander class, wide version.

The Royal Navy had the eight Amazon- class ships , as the first warships ever, privately planned and built by the Vosper Thornycroft and Yarrow shipyards for reasons of cost . The Royal Australian Navy had shown interest in five ships of this class, but later withdrew from the project.

Because of their sleek lines and their high speed, sailors soon called them Porsche .

In the Falklands War of 1982, the HMS Ardent and the HMS Antelope were sunk by enemy fire.

The ships in the Falklands War

Except for the Amazon , all ships of this class were used in the Falklands War. The Ardent was on 21 May 1982 by Argentine aircraft with bombs attacked, burned and sank. 22 crew members died.

The Antelope was hit by several bombs two days later, but they did not explode on impact. One of the bombs exploded while a team of specialists tried to defuse it. One of the armories caught fire, which led to several explosions. The ship sank the following afternoon.

Both ships could be evacuated before sinking.

After the Falklands War

The Pakistani destroyer Tippu Sultan (D 185), named after Tipu Sultan

The Royal Navy was not entirely satisfied with the ships of this type, as two of the ships had been sunk by airplanes when they were actually designed to counter threats from the air. In addition, the aluminum components used resulted in unacceptable losses among the team. The frigates were very maintenance-intensive due to their new, complex propulsion from gas turbines running independently of each other and proved to be extremely unstable in heavy seas.

The ships were still in service with the Royal Navy until 1993 and were then sold to Pakistan . They were renamed the Tariq- class by the Pakistani Navy , as the first ship they received, the HMS Ambuscade , is now called the Tariq .

construction

The ships of the class were the first of the Royal Navy to receive gas turbines instead of diesel engines or steam turbines . In the original design, a high use of aluminum components was planned in order to avoid a high degree of top plasticity . Due to the attack on the Ardent and the resulting fire, these components (especially ladders and the like) began to melt, so these components were removed after 1982 and replaced with steel parts.

The ships had a weapons of Seacat - aircraft missiles , torpedoes and guns and anti-submarine - helicopters . In addition, the ships had new electronics such as the CAAIS (computer-aided information system), which combined all the existing sensors.

The class set new standards in the automation and integration of the systems as well as the living comfort of the team.

Modifications

Even before the ships were commissioned, there was strong criticism from all sides; such a program was launched to Exocet - anti-ship missiles on ships and means for electronic countermeasures to install. In the late 1980s, the old Westland Wasp helicopters were replaced by Westland Lynx helicopters. In addition, new torpedoes Mark 44 and Mark 46 of the United States Navy with the associated torpedo tubes were introduced.

In Pakistan, the ships have been extensively modernized. Most of the phalanx were given CIWS - short-range defense systems . The Sea Cat has also been replaced by Chinese LY-60N rockets and the Exocet starters by Harpoon starters.

units

In the service of the Royal Navy, all ships had names beginning with the letter A.

Identifier	Surname	shipyard	Order	Keel laying	Launch	Commissioning	Whereabouts	New employment	New identifier
F169	Amazon	Vosper Thornycroft , Southampton	March 26, 1969	November 6, 1969	April 26, 1971	May 11, 1974	Babur Pakistani Navy	September 30, 1993	D182
F170	Antelope	Vosper Thornycroft	May 11, 1970	March 23, 1971	March 16, 1972	July 16, 1975	On the 24 May 1982 Falklands War fallen
F172	Ambuscade	Yarrow , Glasgow	November 11, 1971	1st September 1971	18th January 1973	5th September 1975	Tariq Pakistani Navy	July 28, 1993	D181
F173	Arrow	Yarrow	November 11, 1971	September 28, 1972	5th February 1974	July 29, 1976	Khaibar Pakistani Navy	March 1, 1994	D183
F171	Active	Vosper Thornycroft	May 11, 1970	July 21, 1971	November 23, 1972	17th June 1977	Shah Jahan Pakistani Navy	September 23, 1994	D186
F174	Alacrity	Yarrow	November 11, 1971	March 5th 1973	September 18, 1974	2nd July 1977	Badr Pakistani Navy	March 1, 1994	D184
F184	Ardent	Yarrow	November 11, 1971	February 26, 1974	May 9, 1975	October 14, 1977	On the 22 May 1982 Falklands War fallen
F185	Avenger	Yarrow	November 11, 1971	October 30, 1974	20th November 1975	April 15, 1978	Tippu Sultan Pakistani Navy	September 23, 1994	D185

Web links

Commons : Amazon- class - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

^ David and Hugh Lyon, Siegfried Greiner: Warships from 1900 to today, technology and use . Buch und Zeit Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1979, p. 74 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af John Lippiett: Modern Combat Ships 5, Type 21. Ed. Ian Allan, 1990 , ISBN 0-7110-1903-7 , p. 16.

[1] David and Hugh Lyon, Siegfried Greiner: Warships from 1900 to today, technology and use . Buch und Zeit Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1979, p. 74 .

[MCS5p16-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af John Lippiett: Modern Combat Ships 5, Type 21. Ed. Ian Allan, 1990 , ISBN 0-7110-1903-7 , p. 16.