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The first of class was ordered from Yarrows on 29 October 1984 at the
height of the Cold War. Further batches of three were ordered in
September 1986, July 1988, December 1989, January 1992 and February
1996. There
were some early problems, e.g. the Command System was not operational
as quickly as had been planned, but these have been overcome and the
RN has made steady improvements to weapons and sensors in the ships
over the years since first introduction.
From
1999, the Lynx helicopter was replaced on some of the vessels by the
EH 101 Merlin helicopter. These ships are powered by a CODLAG system
(Combined diesel-electric and gas-turbine propulsion) and the
diesel-electric is used for minimum underwater noise during ASW
operations.
| TYPE
23 FRIGATE Specifications |
| Length |
133.0 m |
| Displacement |
4,200 tons full load |
| Beam |
16.2 |
| Draught |
5.5 m |
| Max Speed |
28 knots |
| Range |
7,800 nm at 15 knots |
| Engines |
CODLAG Type system with 2 x Rolls Royce Spey SM1A gas turbines
delivering 18,770 shp each.
For
vessels after HMS Westminster (1994) 2 x Rolls Royce Spey SM1C delivering
26,150 shp each |
| Complement |
181 (13 officers) |
| Armament |
Surface-to-Surface
Missiles (SSM)
8 x Harpoon (130 km range)
Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) Sea Wolf (6 km range)
1 x 4.5 in Gun (25 rounds/min 22 km range)
2 x 30 mm twin Guns (10 km range) |
| Aircraft |
Lynx/Wildcat or Merlin
(Missile and Torpedo armed) |
| Sensors |
Modern above and
under water sensors |
| NAME |
DATE
COMMISSIONED |
| HMS
Argyll
(F231) |
1989
(Planned out of service date 2023) |
| HMS
Lancaster
(F229) |
1990
(Planned out of service date 2024) |
| HMS
Iron
Duke (F234) |
1991
(Planned out of service date 2025) |
| HMS
Monmouth
(F235) |
1991
(Planned out of service date 2026) |
| HMS
Montrose
(F236) |
1992
(Planned out of service date 2027) |
| HMS
Westminster
(F237) |
1992
(Planned out of service date 2028) |
| HMS
Northumberland
(F238) |
1992
(Planned out of service date 2029) |
| HMS
Richmond
(F239) |
1993
(Planned out of service date 2030) |
| HMS
Somerset
(F82) |
1994
(Planned out of service date 2031) |
| HMS
Sutherland
(F81) |
1996
(Planned out of service date 2033) |
| HMS
Kent
(F78) |
1998
(Planned out of service date 2034) |
| HMS
St
Albans (F83) |
2000
(Planned out of service date 2036) |
| HMS
Portland
(F79) |
1999
(Planned out of service date 2035) |
RESPONSE FORCE TASK GROUP (RFTG)
The RFTG was created following the 2010 defence review and is a
rapid reaction force held at high readiness, that deals with
unexpected world events that require military intervention.
During late 2012 the RFTG took part in a major multi-national
exercise in the Mediterranean (Cougar 12) and was structured around
the following units:
HMS Bulwark
HMS Illustrious
HMS Northumberland
HMS Montrose
RFA Mounts Bay
MV Hartland Point
Headquarters of 3 Commando Brigade
45 Commando
30 Commando IX Group
539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines
814 Naval Air Squadron (Merlins)
815 Naval Air Squadron (Lynx)
829 Naval Air Squadron (Merlins)
845 Naval Air Squadron ( Commando-carrying Sea Kings)
846 Naval Air Squadron ( Commando-carrying Sea Kings)
854 Naval Air Squadron (airborne surveillance and control Sea Kings)
656 Squadron Army Air Corps (Apache gunships)
659 Squadron Army Air Corps (Lynx)
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