Whitby-class frigate

HMS Tenby, a Whitby-class frigate, in Amsterdam, 1969
Class overview
NameWhitby class
Builders
Operators
Preceded byType 11 (never built)
Succeeded byRothesay class
In commission10 May 1956 (RN) – 31 August 1992 (IN)[1]
Completed6 + 2 Indian
General characteristics
TypeFrigate
Displacement
  • 2,150 tons (2,185 tonnes)
  • 2,560 tons full load (2,600 tonnes)
Length
  • 360 ft (110 m) w/l
  • 370 ft (110 m) o/a
Beam41 ft (12 m)
Draught17 ft (5.2 m)
PropulsionY-100 plant; 2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 English Electric steam turbines, 2 shafts, 30,000 shp (22,000 kW)
Speed30 kn (56 km/h)
Range370 tons oil fuel, 4,200 nmi (7,780 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement152, later 225
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Radar Type 293Q target indication, later;
    • Radar Type 993
  • Radar Type 277Q height finding (later removed)
  • Radar Type 275 fire control on director Mark 6M
  • Radar Type 262 fire control on STAAG
  • Radar Type 974 navigation
  • Type 1010 Cossor Mark 10 IFF
  • Sonar Type 174 search
  • Sonar Type 162 target classification
  • Sonar Type 170 attack
Armament

The Type 12 or Whitby-class frigates were a six-ship class of anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy, which entered service late in the 1950s.[2][page needed][3][page needed] They were designed in the early 1950s as first-rate ocean-going convoy escorts, in the light of experience gained during World War II. At this time, the Royal Navy were designing single-role escorts and the Whitbys were designed as fast convoy escorts capable of tackling high-speed submarines. However, this made the Whitbys more expensive and sophisticated to produce in large numbers in the event of a major war, and so the Type 14 "utility" or "second-rate" anti-submarine frigate was developed to complement the Type 12. Although themselves rapidly outdated, the Type 12 proved to be an excellent basis for a series of frigate designs used by the British and Commonwealth navies for the next 20 years.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference eminence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Purvis, 1974
  3. ^ Marriott 1990