Blackwood class frigate
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 HMS Exmouth |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Type 14 |
| Builders: | Swan Hunter, Wallsend John I. Thornycroft & Co., Woolston |
| Operators: | Royal Navy, Indian Navy |
| In service: | 1955 (RN) - 1985 (RN) |
| Completed: | 15 |
| Lost: | 1 (+1 as target) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | anti-submarine frigate |
| Displacement: | 1,456 tons (1,479 tonnes) full load |
| Length: | 310 ft (94 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: |
Y-100 plant; 2 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers, steam turbines on 1 shaft, 15,000 shp (11 MW) |
| Speed: | 27 knots (50 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,200 nautical miles (9,630 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 112 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Radar Type 974 navigation |
| Armament: |
3 x 40 mm Bofors gun Mark 7 (quarterdeck mount later removed) |
The Type 14, Blackwood, class were a twelve ship class of "second rate" anti-submarine warfare (A/S) frigates of the Royal Navy, designed and built during the increasing threat from the Soviet Union's large fleet of submarines that roamed the Atlantic Ocean.
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[edit] Design
They were designed to be cheaper and smaller to complement the expensive Type 12 frigates and had light armament. The class were very specialised for the A/S role and thus had little capability in any other role, though they did perform fishery protection duties during the Cod Wars. One of the ships, HMS Exmouth, was later converted to gas turbines in 1966, becoming the first major warship of the Royal Navy to be so powered.
After experience with these frigates, the admiralty decided to ensure that quality was the top priority of all ships, even though it meant having a smaller fleet.
In the late 1950s, during their time on patrols around Iceland to ensure that Iceland did not interfere with British fishermen's attempts to fish, problems were found with the hulls of the Type 14s in such heavy waters, such that their hulls had to be strengthened to cope with these patrols. However, they proved to be good seaboats throughout the dispute, which continued into the mid-1970s.
[edit] Service
The Type 14s' limited size, at just 310 ft (94 m), restricted them from continuing past the 1970s and continuing the work as anti-submarine ships. Their small hull limited the extent of modifications and upgrades possible, preventing the Type 14s from being modernised with more effective weapons, effectively rendering them obsolete. All were decommissioned in the 1970s.
[edit] Ships
[edit] Royal Navy
The Royal Navy ships were all named after British admirals.
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[edit] Indian Navy
Three ships were built for the Indian Navy in the late 1950s
- INS Khukri, sunk by the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor on 8 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- INS Kirpan
- INS Kuthar
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
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