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HMS Somerset
Class overview
Name:	Type 23 class
Builders:	Yarrow and Swan Hunter
Operators:	Royal Navy  Chilean Navy
Preceded by:	Type 22 class frigate
Succeeded by:	None
In commission:	24th November 1987
Completed:	16
Active:	13 (Royal Navy) & 3 (Chilean Navy)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Frigate
Displacement:	Standard:3500tons Full Load:4200tons
Length:	133m (436ft 4in)
Beam:	16.1m (52ft 10in)
Draught:	7.3m (24ft)
Propulsion:	CODLAG with four 1510kW (2025-shp) Paxman Valenta 12CM diesel generators powering two GEC electric motors delivering 2980kW (4000 shp) and two Rolls Royce Spey SM1A delivering 23,190kW (31,100 shp) to two shafts
Speed:	28knots
Range:	14,485km (9000miles) at 15knots
Complement:	181
Armament:	two quadruple launchers for eight Harpoon SSM's Two GWS.26 VLS for 32 Sea Wolf SAMS One 4.5in (114mm) Mk 8 DP gun Two DS 30B 30mm AA guns Two twin 12.75in (324mm) tubes for Stingray ASW torpedoes.
Aircraft carried:	one Lynx HMA.Mk3/8 or Merlin HM.Mk 1 helicopter

The Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate serving with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships are named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, HMS St Albans was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in June 2002. The combination of Merlin with their advanced anti submarine equipment, and Sonar 2087, has according to the Royal Navy, re-affirmed its reputation as a leader in anti submarine warfare.

Design

Origin

The Type 23 was initially conceived as an anti-submarine warfare platform, with a Westland Lynx or EHI Merlin helicopter and a towed array sonar, to replace the Leander-class frigate. They were to hunt and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic, and it was initially proposed that they would not mount defensive armament. Instead the Sea Wolf missile system was to be carried by the Fort Victoria-class replenishment oiler, one of which was to support typically four Type 23s. The Forts would also provide servicing facilities for the force's helicopters; the Type 23 would have facilities only for rearming and refuelling them.

Evolution

As a result of lessons learned from the Falklands War, the design grew in size and complexity to encompass a medium calibre gun for naval gunfire support and the Vertical Launch Sea Wolf (VLS) system as a defence against low-flying aircraft and sea-skimming anti-ship missiles such as Exocet. With the addition of Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles, the Type 23 had evolved into a complex and balanced warship which introduced a host of new technologies and concepts to the Royal Navy. These included extensive radar cross section reduction design measures, automation to substantially reduce crew size, a CODLAG (Combined Diesel-electric and Gas) propulsion system providing very quiet running for anti-submarine operations along with excellent range, vertical launch missile technology and a fully-distributed combat management system.

The Vertical Launch Sea Wolf surface-to-air missile system was designed for and first deployed on the Type 23. Unlike conventional Sea Wolf, the missile is boosted vertically until it clears the ship's super-structure and then turns to fly directly to the target. Consequently, the ship's structure does not cause no-fire zones that would delay or inhibit missile firing in a conventionally launched system.

HMS Norfolk was the first of the class to enter service, commissioned into the Fleet on June 1, 1990 at a cost of £135.449 million GBP, later vessels cost £60-96 million GBP. ^[1]

On July 21, 2004, in the Delivering Security in a Changing World review of defence spending, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that HMS Norfolk, Marlborough and Grafton were to be paid off. In 2005 it was announced that these three vessels would be sold to the Chilean Navy, to be delivered in 2008. In September 2005 BAE Systems was awarded a £134 million GBP contract to prepare the frigates for transfer. The Norfolk was handed over by the Defence Logistics Organisation and BAE Systems and commissioned into the Chilean Navy on the 22 November 2006, and named Almirante Cochrane (FF-05) (after Lord Cochrane, a naval hero to both the British and Chileans). The Grafton was delivered to Chilean Navy on 28 March 2007 at Portsmouth and renamed Almirante Lynch (FF-07). The Marlborough was delivered to Chilean Navy on 28 May 2008 at Portsmouth and renamed Almirante Condell (FF-06).

Specifications

Weapon Systems

• 2 x quadruple Harpoon missile launchers
• 32 x Vertical Launch Sea Wolf Surface-to-air missiles (VLS GWS 26 Mod 1 Block 2 system)
• 1 x 114 mm (4.5 in) Vickers Mark 8 gun (all ships being upgraded to Mod 1 standard)
• 2 x Oerlikon 30 mm L/75 KCB guns on single Laurence Scott DS-30B mounts. Being upgraded to remote control with electro-optic director
• 4 x Cray Marine 324 mm (2 twin) fixed torpedo tubes, Marconi Sting Ray
• NATO Seagnat, Type 182 and DLF3 countermeasures launchers

Aircraft:

• Westland Lynx HM.8 or AgustaWestland Merlin HM.1 helicopter
• Armament:
  • Sea Skua missiles (Lynx only)
  • Sting Ray torpedoes
  • depth charges

Electronic Systems

• Search: BAE Systems Radar Type 996 Mod 1, 3D surveillance
• Navigation: Kelvin Hughes Radar Type 1007 and Racal Decca Type 1008
• Fire control:
  • 2 x GEC Marconi Type 911 Sea Wolf systems
  • Sperry Sea Archer 30 optronic surveillance / director
• Bow sonar: Thales Underwater Systems Type 2050
• Towed sonar: Ultra Electronics Type 2031Z, being replaced by Type 2087 in eight ships
• Combat Management System: BAE Systems Command System DNA(1)

Note: Type 23's Search Radar will be replaced by BAE System Insyte Artisan 3D Radar. The radar will also equipped Albion Class & HMS Ocean Assault Ships, and also new Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers. The project was worth £100 Million and the contract announced in August 4th, 2008.^[2]

Ships

Type 23 frigates in fiction

• HMS Westminster was used for the Type 23 interior shots in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies in three different roles as HMS Chester, HMS Devonshire and HMS Bedford. For the exterior shots a Type 23 model was constructed.
• The ITV series Making Waves was set aboard the Type 23 frigate HMS Suffolk (which was portrayed by HMS Grafton).
• HMS Montrose and HMS Monmouth were used to portray the interior and exterior shots of the fictional HMS Monarch for the film Command Approved [1] which is the centre piece of Action Stations at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth, England.

References

The Encyclopedia of Warships, From World War Two to the Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Type 23 frigate

Type 23 Duke Class Frigate