| Type 14 class anti-submarine frigate | |
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| Class overview | |
| Type: | anti-submarine frigate |
| Name: | Type 14 class |
| Builders: | Swan Hunter, Wallsend John I. Thornycroft & Co., Woolston |
| Operators: | Royal Navy, Indian Navy |
| In service: | 1955 (RN) |
| Out of service: | 1985 (RN) |
| Ships in class: | 15 |
| Ships sunk: | 1 (+1 as target) |
| Ships scrapped: | 13 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,456 tons (!,479 tonnes) full load |
| Length: | 310 ft (94 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10.1 m) |
| Draft: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion and power: |
Y-100 plant; 2 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers, steam turbines on 1 shaft, 15,000 shp (11 MW) Exmouth, from 1966: COGOG, 1 x Rolls-Royce Olympus boost and 2 x Rolls-Royce Proteus cruise gas turbines. |
| Speed: | 27 knots (50 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,200 nautical miles (9,630 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 112 |
| Armament: | 3 x 40 mm Bofors gun Mark 7 (quarterdeck mount later removed) 2 x Limbo Mark 10 A/S mortars |
| Sensors: | Radar Type 974 navigation Sonar Type 174 search |
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.
Contents |
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 ASW role and thus had little capability in any other role, though they did perform fishery protection duties. 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. 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.
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.
Ships
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy ships were all named for British admirals.
Indian Navy
Three ships were built for the Indian Navy in the late 1950's
- IN Khukri, sunk by the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor on 8 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- INS Kirpan
- INS Kuthar
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| Blackwood · Duncan · Dundas · Exmouth · Grafton · Hardy · Keppel · Malcolm · Murray · Palliser · Pellew · Russell |
| Preceded by: · Followed by: List of frigates of the Royal Navy |
