Leander class (1959)

Leander class
HMS Apollo
Overview
Type	Frigates
units	53 units built for  United Kingdom 26 units, out of service  Chile 2 units, to Ecuador  New Zealand 2 units, out of service  Australia 6 units, out of service  Netherlands 6 units, to Indonesia  India 12 units, 8 in service
Shipyard	More than 12 in total, see individual ships
period of service	Since 1953
Technical specifications
Unless otherwise stated, technical data refer to batch I.
displacement	2500 tons
length	113.4 meters
width	13.1 meters
Draft	4.5 meters
crew	260
drive	2 Babcock & Wilcox oil- fired steam boilers
speed	27 knots
Range	4600 nautical miles at 15 knots
Armament	Basic equipment 2 × 4.5-inch cannons in twin turrets 1 Seacat - air missile 2 × 20 mm cannons 1 Limbo ASW mortar

The Leander-class , also known as the Type 12I (Type 12 Improved ), was a class of multi-purpose frigates in the Royal Navy . Leander class ships were also exported to many other countries, some of which are still in service today. With over 50 units built, including 26 for the Royal Navy, it is probably the most successful British frigate class of the post-war period. By the British TV series Warship of the BBC , the class gained an extraordinary reputation.

history

HMS Andromeda (Batch III)

The Leander class is the logical further development of the frigate classes Whitby (Type 12) and Rothesay (Type 12M), which are only equipped for submarine hunting. The Leander class was built between 1959 and 1973 in three batches , which largely differ. What they all have in common, however, is the length of 113 meters and the propulsion system with two oil-fired boilers that drive the two propellers via two steam turbines and bring the ships to speeds of up to 28 knots. The naming of the British units was consistently based on figures from Roman and Greek mythology. The special features also included the fact that these were the last ships of the Royal Navy, which were at least partially still built at the naval shipyards in Portsmouth and Devonport. The design of the Amazon class resulted from the experience with the Leander class.

Service in the Royal Navy

In the Royal Navy, the ships were mainly used for submarine hunting, very often also in carrier groups. The Leanders also took part in missions; so they helped evacuate British citizens from Cyprus and four units were deployed in the 1982 Falklands War . The HMS Argonaut was hit by two bombs, but they did not explode. Therefore, the ship suffered no irreparable damage and could be repaired again.

Between 1989 and 1992 all units of the class were decommissioned, on the one hand because the ships were reaching the end of their lifespan and on the other hand because the Royal Navy was massively downsized in the course of the end of the Cold War.

variants

Great Britain

Batch I

Batch I comprised eight ships, each 12.5 m wide and displacing around 2800 t. Somewhat unusual for the time, a Westland Wasp helicopter was already part of the equipment on the Leander class ships . The armament of the ships originally consisted of two 114 mm guns in a twin turret, two Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, two Oerlikon 20 mm guns and an anti-submarine mortar. Later, the flak were replaced by more modern SeaCat anti-aircraft missile systems. In order to be able to counter the increasing threat posed by the Soviet submarine fleet, the 114 mm guns were also replaced by the Australian Ikara anti-submarine missile system.

Batch II

The eight ships of the second batch are largely very similar to those of the first batch. Probably the biggest change was a slightly improved propulsion system. At the beginning of the 1970s, however, the ships underwent extensive modernization. In place of the Ikara system from the first batch, the 114mm guns were replaced with four Exocet anti-ship missiles . In addition, the anti-submarine mortar was replaced by two torpedo launchers and the helicopter hangar was completely redesigned to accommodate the much larger Westland Lynx .

Batch III

The third batch brought big changes to the previous ones. The ships were made wider by 60 cm and received a further improved propulsion system. The original armament consisted of two 20mm Oerlikon guns, two 114mm guns in a twin turret, SeaCat anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine mortar. However, five of the ten ships were modernized during their service life. All armament except for the two 20 mm guns was removed and Exocet anti-ship missiles, Sea Wolf anti-aircraft missiles and a third 20 mm gun were installed instead .

Export successes

The Leander class could be exported to a large number of countries:

• Australia: River Class 6 units
• Chile: Condell Class 2 units
• New Zealand: 4 units (2 ex-RN)
• India:
  • Nilgiri class 6 units
  • Godavari class 3 units
  • Brahmaputra class 3 units
• Netherlands: Van Speijk class 6 units
• Indonesia: 6 units (ex-Netherlands)
• Ecuador: 4 (2 ex-RN, 2 ex-Chile)
• Pakistan: 2 (ex-RN)

Australia

Between 1959 and 1971, six frigates designated as the River class were manufactured under license for the Australian Navy. The first four units correspond to the British Type 12 Whitby class , the Leander design was only adopted for the last two ships.

Chile

Chile received two ships built in Great Britain in the early 1970s, which were designated as Condell-class. The two ships were in service until 2007 and 2008, respectively, when the Chilean Navy delivered three more modern Duke- class ships. The two Condell-class units were then sold to Ecuador, where they replace two Leander-class ships that were bought second-hand by the Royal Navy in the early 1990s, some years older.

New Zealand

New Zealand received two ships built in England in the 1970s. Later two used units of the Royal Navy were taken over. All four units have now been decommissioned and sunk as wrecks for divers.

Netherlands

The Netherlands built six ships under license in the 1960s with a slightly modified design, which were known as the Van Speijk class. In the 1970s the ships were modernized and between 1986 and 1989 the ships were sold to Indonesia, where they are still in service today.

India

After Great Britain, most ships of this class were built in India ; altogether there were twelve ships in three subclasses.

The Nilgiri class built in the 1970s still largely corresponded to Batch I of the ships built in Great Britain. With the Godavari class , guided missile systems from Israel and Russia in particular were installed in the 1980s . The Brahmaputra class received new modern weapon systems and electronics in the early 2000s.

Another Leander-class ship that was retired from the Royal Navy has served as a training ship since the mid-1990s.

Pakistan

In the late 1990s, Pakistan received two used Leander ships from the Royal Navy, which are still in service today.

Ship list

The ships are only listed once in this list, i.e. only the newbuildings of the respective state.

Australia

River class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Launch	Commissioning	Whereabouts
HMAS Parramatta	EN 46	Cockatoo Island Shipyard, Sydney	January 31, 1959	4th July 1961	Canceled
HMAS Yarra	EN 45	Williamstown Navy Yard, Melbourne	September 30, 1958	July 27, 1961	Canceled
HMAS Stuart	EN 48	Cockatoo Island	April 8, 1961	June 28, 1963	Canceled
HMAS Derwent	EN 49	Williamstown Navy Yard	April 17, 1961	April 30, 1964	Sunk as an artificial reef
HMAS Swan	DE 50	Williamstown Navy Yard	December 16, 1967	20th January 1970	Sunk as an artificial reef
HMAS Torrens	EN 53	Cockatoo Island	September 28, 1968	19th January 1971	Sunk as a target ship

Chile

Condell class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Keel laying	Launch	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
Almirante Condell	PFG-06	Yarrow Shipbuilders	June 1971	June 12, 1972	December 21, 1973	December 11, 2007	March 2008 to Ecuador as BAE Eloy Alfaro (FM 01)
Almirante Lynch	PFG-07	Yarrow Shipbuilders	December 1971	2nd December 1971	May 25, 1974	4th July 2007	March 2008 to Ecuador

Great Britain

Ship identification	Surname	Shipyard	Keel laying	Launch	Put into service	Whereabouts
Batch I
F109	Leander	Harland & Wolff , Belfast	04/10/1959	06/28/1961	03/27/1963	Sunk in 1989 as a target ship
F114	Ajax	Cammell Laird , Birkenhead	10/12/1959	08/16/1962	December 10, 1963	Scrapped in 1988
F10	Aurora	John Brown & Company , Clydebank	06/01/1961	11/28/1962	04/09/1964	Scrapped in 1990
F15	Euryalus	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock	11/02/1961	06/06/1963	16.09.1964	Scrapped in 1990
F104	Dido	Yarrow Shipbuilders	12/02/1961	12/22/1962	03/27/1963	1983 as HMNZS Southland to New Zealand, sunk in 1995 as an artificial reef
F18	Galatea	Swan Hunter , Wallsend	12/29/1961	05/23/1963	04/25/1964	Sunk in 1988 as a target ship
F38	Arethusa	J. Samuel White , Cowes	07.09.1962	05/11/1963	11/24/1965	Sunk in 1991 as a target ship
F39	Naiad	Yarrow Shipbuilders	10/30/1962	04/11/1963	03/15/1965	Sunk as a target ship in 1990
Batch 2
F28	Cleopatra	HM Dockyard Devonport	06/19/1963	03/25/1964	01/04/1966	Sold for scrapping in 1991
F40	Sirius	HM Dockyard Portsmouth	08/09/1963	09/22/1964	06/15/1966	Sunk in 1998 as a target ship
F42	Phoebe	Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse	06/03/1963	07/08/1964	04/15/1966	Sold for scrapping in 1992
F45	Minerva	Vickers Armstrongs , Walker	07/25/1963	December 19, 1964	05/14/1966	Sold for scrapping in 1993
F47	Danae	HM Dockyard, Devonport	December 16, 1964	11/24/1965	07.09.1967	1990 to Ecuador as Morán Valverde
F52	Juno	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston	07/16/1964	11/24/1965	07/18/1967	Sold for scrapping in 1994
F56	Argonaut	Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn	11/27/1964	02/08/1966	08/17/1967	Sold for scrapping in 1995
F127	Penelope	Vickers Armstrongs	03/14/1961	08/17/1962	October 31, 1963	1991 to Ecuador as Presidente Eloy Alfaro
Batch 3
F12	Achilles *	Yarrow Shipbuilders	December 01, 1967	11/21/1968	07/09/1970	1990 sold to Chile as Ministro Zenteno , 2006
F16	Diomede *	Yarrow Shipbuilders	01/30/1968	03/15/1969	04/02/1971	1988 to Pakistan as Shamsher (F 263)
F57	Andromeda	HM Dockyard, Portsmouth	May 25, 1966	05/24/1967	12/02/1968	1995 to India as Krishna
F58	Hermione	Alexander Stephen & Sons	December 06, 1965	04/26/1967	07/11/1969	Sold for scrapping in 1997
F60	Jupiter	Yarrow Shipbuilders	10/03/1966	02/29/1968	08/09/1969	Sold for scrapping in 1997
F69	Bacchante *	Vickers Armstrongs	October 27, 1966	02/29/1968	10/17/1969	1982 as HMNZS Wellington to New Zealand, sunk in 2005 as an artificial reef
F70	Apollo *	Yarrow Shipbuilders	05/01/1969	October 15, 1970	05/28/1972	1988 to Pakistan as Zulfiquar (F 262)
F71	Scylla *	HM Dockyard, Portsmouth	05/17/1967	08/08/1968	02/12/1970	Sunk in 2004 as an artificial reef
F72	Ariadne *	Yarrow Shipbuilders	11/01/1969	09/10/1971	02/10/1973	1992 to Chile as General Baquedano , sunk in 2004 as a target ship
F75	Charybdis	Harland & Wolff	01/27/1967	02/28/1968	06/02/1969	Sunk in 1993 as a target ship

* = not modernized

India

Nilgiri- class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
INS Nilgiri	F33	Mazagon Dock Limited	June 23, 1972	1996	Sunk as a target ship
INS Himgiri	F34	Mazagon Dock Limited	23rd November 1974	May 6, 2005
INS Udaygiri	F35	Mazagon Dock Limited	18th February 1976	August 24, 2007
INS Dunagiri	F36	Mazagon Dock Limited	May 5th 1977	October 20, 2010
INS Taragiri	F41	Mazagon Dock Limited	May 16, 1980	June 27, 2013
INS Vindhyagiri	F42	Mazagon Dock Limited	July 8, 1981	June 10, 2012	Sunk and irreparably damaged on January 31, 2011 after a collision with the container ship Nordlake and subsequent fire in the Mumbai naval base. Was lifted and is to be sunk as a target ship.

Godavari class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Commissioning	Whereabouts
INS Godavari	F20	Mazagon Dock Limited	December 10, 1983	active
INS Ganga	F22	Mazagon Dock Limited	December 30, 1985	active
INS Gomati	F21	Mazagon Dock Limited	April 16, 1988	active

Brahmaputra class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Commissioning	Whereabouts
INS Brahmaputra	F31	Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers	April 14, 2000	active
INS Betwa	F39	Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers	July 7, 2004	active
INS Bea	F37	Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers	July 11, 2005	active

New Zealand

Leander class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Keel laying	Commissioning	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
HMNZS Waikato	F 55	Harland and Wolff	January 1964	September 1966	1998	18 December 2000 sunk as an artificial reef
HMNZS Canterbury	F 421	Yarrow Shipbuilders	June 12, 1969	October 22, 1971	March 21, 2005	November 3rd 2007 sunk as an artificial reef

Netherlands

Van Speijk class

Surname	Ship identification	shipyard	Commissioning	Whereabouts
Van Speijk	F802	Amsterdam dockyard	1967	sold to Indonesia as Slamet Riadi (352), 1986
Van Galen	F803	Royal Scheldt	1967	sold to Indonesia as Yos Sudarso (353), 1987
Tjerk Hiddes	F804	Amsterdam dockyard	1967	sold to Indonesia as Ahmad Yani (351), 1986
Van Nes	F805	Royal Scheldt	1967	sold to Indonesia as Oswald Siahaan (354), 1986
Isaac Sweers	F814	Amsterdam dockyard	1967	sold to Indonesia as Karel Satsuitubun (356)
Eversten	F815	Royal Scheldt	1967	sold to Indonesia as Abdul Halim Perdanakusuma (355), 1989

Trivia

• From 1973 to 1977, the British television series Warship was shot on a total of seven units of the class , which was used to advertise the Royal Navy.
• In the 1970s the Airfix company produced a plastic model kit of the Leander class.

Web links

Commons : Leander class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/rn/frigates/leander/
• Leander Class General Purpose Frigate (Type 12 Improved) ( Memento from December 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
• http://www.oldships.org.uk/SHIPS/TYPE_LIST/FRIGATE_CLASS/Leander_Class.htm
• http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_type12m.html
• Airfix Leander- class model at britmodeller.com

Footnotes

1. ↑ David and Hugh Lyon; Siegfried Greiner: Warships from 1900 to today, technology and use . Buch und Zeit Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1979, p. 74 .
2. ↑ Hamburg freighter sinks Indian frigate. ndr.de, February 2, 2011, archived from the original on August 16, 2012 ; Retrieved February 3, 2011 .