Duke class (1987)
 The Argyll in 2009
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The Duke class (Type 23) is the youngest type of frigate in the British Royal Navy . The total of 16 ships were put into service between 1990 and 2002. They were built at the shipyards of Swan Hunter in Wallsend and Yarrow Shipbuilders (since 1999 BAE Systems ) in Scotstoun.
history
By the 1970s, the Royal Navy had a wide variety of different types of frigate, which recent developments proved to be a major disappointment, particularly the Amazon- class . After the experience of the Falklands War , the British government decided to build 24 heavy Broadsword- class frigates . As time went on, however, costs came to the fore and production ceased after only 14 frigates. Instead, the gap that has now arisen was to be closed by a less expensive light frigate that was primarily intended for submarine hunting. A draft was presented for a simply equipped frigate with 3,000 tons of water displacement and a length of almost 100 m. However, the draft met with general criticism from the Royal Navy, which called for more powerful ships. Ultimately, a helicopter hangar, multiple guided missile systems, and additional storage space were added to the design, making the new frigates nearly the same size as the Broadsword- class.
With the end of the Cold War , the tasks of the frigates also changed. The submarine hunt was still important, but the frigates were now also used for global crisis operations. While this expanded range of tasks was already taken into account during the construction of the last six frigates, the first ten ships were only retrofitted afterwards. This included new weapon systems and expanded communication facilities.
One of the first missions in 1999 was the escort for the aircraft carriers Invincible and Foch during the Kosovo war by the frigates Grafton and Somerset . Since then, the 16 frigates have been the backbone of the Royal Navy and have been used on all war missions in Great Britain. The frigates also play an important role in regular patrol missions. a. in the Caribbean against drug smugglers. The unexpected versatility and performance of the ships led the Royal Navy to decommission 10 of its 14 Broadsword- class frigates in the late 1990s and their duties were almost completely taken over by the Duke-class.
As part of the “ Future Surface Combatant ” (FSC) program, the Duke class was originally to be replaced by a new type of frigate from 2010. Due to the restructuring of the FSC program in 2005, the commissioning of a successor model, now referred to as Global Combat Ship (GSC), is now looking for international cooperation partners, or Type 26 of the Royal Navy, but is now only planned for 2020. Therefore, the Duke-class frigates will be subjected to extensive modernization one after the other until 2012 in order to theoretically remain in service until 2025. Exceptions to this are the frigates Norfolk , Malborough and Grafton , which were sold to the Chilean Navy in 2005 and 2006 as part of a fleet reduction .
However, these three ships were also modernized later in Chilean service. The modernization began in 2017 at the ASMAR naval shipyard in Talcahuano and included a new CMS 330 command system from Lockheed Martin Canada, a TRS-4D 3D radar from Hensoldt and the Sea Ceptor missile defense system from MBDA .
construction
The Duke class placed particular emphasis on a high degree of automation and modern computer systems. As a result, the frigate only has a crew of 185 men, while the Broadsword class is 260. The ships are equipped with particularly fireproof materials and state-of-the-art fire fighting equipment after four warships burned out after being hit by rockets in the Falklands War. The frigates were among the first warships that were designed to ensure that the radar reflective surface was as small as possible in order to make radar location more difficult. Special cooling systems have been installed in the chimneys, which make it difficult to locate the heat. Systems on the hull protect the ships against sonar tracking by submarines. In addition, the frigates were the first European warships to be equipped with a vertical launching system for launching anti-aircraft missiles .
The Duke class in the movie
- The frigate Westminster plays a central role as Devonshire in the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies . At the same time, she also depicts the frigates Bedford and Chester .
- In the series Making Waves of the British television station ITV, Grafton as Suffolk is the central setting.
units
All ships were named after British dukes.
| Surname | Identifier | shipyard | Launch | IDS | Retirement | home port | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMS Norfolk | F230 | Yarrow | July 11, 1987 | November 24, 1989 | April 15, 2005 | Devonport | as Almirante Cochrane (FF-05) to Chile |
| HMS Marlborough | F233 | Swan Hunter | April 8, 1989 | May 31, 1991 | July 8, 2005 | Portsmouth | as Almirante Condell (FF-06) to Chile |
| HMS Argyll | F231 | Yarrow | May 24, 1990 | May 30, 1991 | Devonport | active | |
| HMS Lancaster | F229 | Yarrow | January 21, 1989 | June 14, 1991 | Portsmouth | active | |
| HMS Iron Duke | F234 | Yarrow | March 2, 1991 | May 20, 1995 | Portsmouth | active | |
| HMS Monmouth | F235 | Yarrow | November 23, 1991 | November 24, 1993 | Devonport | active | |
| HMS Montrose | F236 | Yarrow | July 31, 1992 | June 2, 1994 | Devonport | active, stationed in Mina Salman / Bahrain from 2019–22 | |
| HMS Westminster | F237 | Swan Hunter | February 9, 1992 | May 13, 1993 | Portsmouth | active | |
| HMS Northumberland | F238 | Swan Hunter | April 4, 1992 | November 29, 1994 | Devonport | active | |
| HMS Richmond | F239 | Swan Hunter | April 6, 1993 | October 1996 | Portsmouth | active | |
| HMS Somerset | F82 | Yarrow | June 24, 1994 | September 20, 1996 | Devonport | active | |
| HMS Grafton | F80 | Yarrow | 5th November 1994 | May 29, 1997 | March 31, 2006 | Portsmouth | as Almirante Lynch (FF-07) to Chile |
| HMS Sutherland | F81 | Yarrow | March 9, 1996 | 4th July 1997 | Devonport | active | |
| HMS Kent | F78 | Yarrow | May 28, 1998 | June 8, 2000 | Portsmouth | active | |
| HMS Portland | F79 | BAE SYSTEMS | May 15, 1999 | May 3, 2001 | Devonport | active | |
| HMS St Albans | F83 | BAE SYSTEMS | May 6, 2000 | June 6, 2002 | Portsmouth | active |
The following table shows the situation of the affected ships after their resale.
The Chilean ships are based in Valparaíso .
| Identifier | Surname | Commissioning | Decommissioning | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FF-05 | Almirante Cochrane | November 22, 2006 | active | |
| FF-06 | Almirante Condell | May 28, 2008 | active | |
| FF-07 | Almirante Lynch | March 28, 2007 | active |
Web links
- Official Royal Navy website about the Duke class
- Almirante Cochrane on the homepage of the Armada de Chile in Spanish