Type 16 frigate

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HMS Tenacious (F44) at anchor.jpg
Type 16 frigate HMS Tenacious (F44)
Class overview
Operators
Built19491954
In commission19511967
Completed10
General characteristics for T-class conversion
Type Anti-submarine Frigate
Displacement
  • 1,800 long tons (1,800 t) standard
  • 2,300 long tons (2,300 t) full load
Length362 ft 9 in (110.57 m) o/a
Beam37 ft 9 in (11.51 m)
Draught14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • Steam turbines, 40,000 shp
  • 2 shafts
Speed32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h) full load
Complement175
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Type 293Q target indication Radar
  • Type 974 navigation Radar
  • Type 1010 Cossor Mark 10 IFF
  • Type 146B search Sonar
  • Type 147 depth finder Sonar
  • Type 162 target classification Sonar
  • Type 174 attack Sonar
Armament

The Type 16 frigates were a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers that had been rendered obsolete by rapid advances in technology. They were similar in concept to the Type 15 frigate, but were a far more limited design rendered necessary by budget constraints.

Contents

History

At the start of the Cold War, the Royal Navy was in urgent need of fast escort ships to counter the large number of Whiskey-class submarines being built by the Soviet Union, which were faster than the Royal Navy's existing sloops and frigates. Britain had large numbers of War Emergency Programme destroyers, which while relatively new, were poorly equipped for modern fleet purposes, with poor anti-aircraft armament and fire control. It was therefore decided to convert the Emergency Programme destroyers to interim escorts to meet the Royal Navy's requirements until new-build ships (which eventually became the Type 12 and Type 14 frigates) could be designed and built. The initial design was the Type 15 frigate or Rapid class, which was a major rebuild of the ships, with an extended forecastle and new superstructure giving improved accommodation and complete replacement of the ships' armament and sensors. [1] At one time, it was planned to convert 57 destroyers to the Type 15 standard, [2] but the cost of such a large programme proved prohibitive, with only 23 ships becoming Type 15 frigates. Instead, a simpler and cheaper conversion, the Type 16 was ordered. [3]

The Type 16 conversion removed the existing gun armament, substituting a twin 4 inch gun forward with a close-in anti-aircraft armament of seven Bofors 40 mm guns, with simpler fire control than used in the Type 15. Anti-submarine armament consisted of two Squid anti-submarine mortars, while a quadruple set of 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes provided a limited anti-surface ship armament. [4]

Ships

NamePennant [5] Built by [5] Laid down [5] Launched [5] Completed [5] Converted byFate
O and P-class conversion
Orwell F98Thornycroft, Woolston16 May 19402 April 19427 October 1942 Royal Dockyard, Rosyth, 1952Broken up, 1965
Paladin F169J Brown, Clydebank22 July 194011 June 194112 December 1941Royal Dockyard, Rosyth, 1954Broken up, 1962
Petard F56Vickers Armstrong, Tyne26 December 193927 March 194114 June 1942 Harland & Wolff, Belfast, 1953–1955Broken up, 1967
T-class conversion
Teazer F23Cammell Laird20 October 19407 January 194313 September 1943Mountstart Dry Docks, Cardiff, 1953–1954Broken up, 1965
Tenacious F44Cammell Laird3 December 194124 March 194330 October 1943Royal Dockyard, Rosyth, 1951–1952Broken up, 1965
Termagant F189Denny, Dumbarton25 November 194122 March 194330 October 1943 Grayson Rollo, Birkenhead, 1952–1953Broken up, 1965
Terpsichore F19Denny, Dumbarton25 November 194117 June 194320 January 1944 J. I. Thornycroft, Woolston, Hampshire, 1953–1954Broken up, 1966
Tumult F121J Brown, Clydebank16 November 19419 November 19412 April 1943Grayson Rollo, Birkenhead, 1949–1950Broken up, 1965
Tuscan F156Swan Hunter, Wallsend9 September 194128 May 194211 March 1943Mountstart Dry Docks, Cardiff, 1949–1950Broken up, 1966
Tyrian F67Swan Hunter, Wallsend15 October 194127 July 19428 April 1943 Harland & Wolff, Liverpool &
Gordon Alison, Birkenhead, 1951–1953
Broken up, 1965

Ex-O class destroyers of the Pakistan Navy Onslow / Tippu Sultan and Onslaught / Tughril were returned to the UK between 1957 and 1959 to be converted along the lines of the Type 16 frigate.

Also two ex-W class destroyers of the South African Navy: SAS Jan van Riebeeck (ex-Wessex) and SAS Simon van der Stel (ex-Whelp) underwent conversions to modified Type 16 frigates in 1962–66. [6] They differed mainly in ability to carry two Westland Wasp helicopters, instead of having a Squid launcher. [6]

See also

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References

  1. Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, pp. 480, 512.
  2. Friedman 2006, p. 219.
  3. Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, pp. 512–513.
  4. Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 513.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Marriott 1983, p. 44.
  6. 1 2 Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 334.

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