Leander class frigate

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Type 12 (Leander)-class
HMS Andromeda
General Characteristics
Displacement:	2860 tons full load (Batch 1 and 2)/3000 tons full load (Batch 3)
Length:	372 ft (113 m)
Beam:	41 ft (12.5 m) Batch 1 and 2, 43 ft (13.1 m) Batch 3
Draught:	18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion:	2 shafts, 2 steam turbines, 2 boilers, 25,000 shp (19 MW)
Speed:	28 knots (52 km/h)
Range:	4500 nautical miles (8,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:	257
Armament:	2 twin mount x 4.5 in (114 mm) gun (later removed on five Batch 3. Removed in all Batch 1 and 2 ships) 2 x 40 mm gun (Later removed from Batch 1 and 2 ships. Also removed from five Batch 3 ships) 2 x 20 mm gun (Batch 1 and 2. One x 20 mm gun later added to Batch 3 ships) Sea Cat anti-air missile launcher (Batch 1 and 2. Removed from five Batch 3s) Sea Wolf anti-air missile launcher (Five Batch 3 ships) Exocet anti-ship missile launcher (Batch 2 and five Batch 3s) Mk 10 Limbo mortar (Batch 1. Later removed from all Batch 2s and five Batch 3s) Ikara ASW missile launcher (Batch 1)
Aircraft:	1 Westland Wasp (Batch 2 and 3 were later refitted to operate Westland Lynx)

The Leander class, informally known as the Type 12M, comprising twenty-six frigates, was arguably the most successful and popular class of frigates in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1960 and 1968, each batch with a distinct role.

The first batch, comprising 8 ships and built between 1963 and 1965, were general purpose alternatives to the far more expensive single-role classes such as the Rothesay class frigates and Whitby class frigates. They had a Y100 engine design, which would be replaced in the subsequent two batches, as well as much improved accommodation for the crew, including air conditioning. They also were designed from the start to operate one helicopter, a feature rather rare at that time.

They were originally armed with one twin mount 4.5 in (114 mm) gun, but this was later removed in favour of the Australian designed Ikara anti-submarine warfare (ASW) rocket launcher in response to the perceived threat of Soviet submarines, effectively turning the batch one vessels into ASW frigates. The Sea Cat missile was also installed, replacing the 40 mm guns.

The second batch, comprising 8 ships (1966 to 1967), were designed for the specialised anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role and were only slightly revised to the batch ones, in that they had a different engine design, known as the Y136. The one twin mount 4.5-in gun was later replaced with the Exocet anti-ship missile launcher giving them a potent anti-ship capability. The SeaCat missile and 6 torpedo tubes were also added. The ASW mortar was also removed to allow the helicopter deck to be extended to enable the class to operate the larger, and more capable, Westland Lynx.

The third batch, comprising 10 ships (1968 to 1973), had an increased beam of 43ft (versus the 41ft beam of the first 2 batches) to give more internal space and improved stability. This also allowed the Batch Threes to be more receptive to modernisation.

The third batch had a different engine design, known as the Y160. On five ships of the batch, the one twin mount 4.5 in (114 mm) gun, SeaCat missile launcher, 40 mm guns, and Limbo mortar were all removed in favour of three Oerlikon 20 mm guns, and Sea Wolf missile and Exocet missile launchers. The 20 mm Oerlikon gun was added to all Batch Three ships.

Leander-class frigates were also successfully exported under license to Australia as the River class destroyer escort, Chile, India, the Netherlands as the Van Speijk class frigate, New Zealand and South Africa. Ex-RN ships were sold to Chile, Ecuador, New Zealand (HMS Bacchante/HMNZS Wellington) , India and Pakistan.

The ships performed excellently in RN service, with relatively low noise levels giving the 2030(I) towed sonar mounted during the 1970s a range of more than 100 miles, better than that of the more advanced 2030(Z) sonar when fitted in the Type 22 class. However, all Leanders in RN service were decommissioned by the early 1990s due to ships' aging design and high crew size, combined with yet another RN manpower crisis and defence cuts. Some Leanders remain in service with foreign navies. HMS Scylla was sunk 27 March 2004 as an artificial reef off Cornwall. It had been ten years since her decommissioning in 1994. They remain in service with Chile, Ecuador, India(Nilgiri Class), Indonesia (ex- Netherlands Van Speijk Class) and Pakistan.

HMNZS Canterbury, the last steam-turbine driven Leander class frigate in the Royal New Zealand Navy, was decommissioned in Auckland on 31 March 2005 after 33 years operational service. In 2006 it was announced that the ship is to be sunk as a dive attraction in the Bay of Islands.

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[edit] Leander class variants

Sea Wolf/Exocet	Sea Cat/Exocet	Ikara	4.5in Gun
HMS Andromeda	HMS Argonaut	HMS Ajax	HMS Achilles
HMS Charybdis	HMS Cleopatra	HMS Arethusa	HMS Apollo
HMS Hermione	HMS Danae	HMS Aurora	HMS Ariadne
HMS Jupiter	HMS Juno	HMS Dido	HMS Bacchante
HMS Penelope	HMS Minerva	HMS Euryalus	HMS Diomede
HMS Scylla	HMS Phoebe	HMS Galatea
	HMS Sirius	HMS Leander
		HMS Naiad