NAVYPEDIA

Photo

Antelope 1981

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Amazon	F169	4228	Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston	6.11.1969	26.4.1971	11.5.1974	to Pakistan 9.1993 (بابر [Babur])
Antelope	F170	4232	Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston	23.3.1971	16.3.1972	16.7.1975	sunk 24.5.1982
Active	F171	4233	Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston	21.7.1971	23.11.1972	17.6.1977	to Pakistan 9.1994 (شاہ جہاں [Shah Jahan])
Ambuscade	F172	1008	Yarrow SB, Scotstoun	1.9.1971	18.1.1973	5.9.1975	to Pakistan 7.1993 (طارق [Tariq])
Arrow	F173	1009	Yarrow SB, Scotstoun	28.9.1972	5.2.1974	29.7.1976	to Pakistan 3.1994 (خیبر [Khaibar])
Alacrity	F174	1010	Yarrow SB, Scotstoun	5.3.1973	18.9.1974	2.7.1977	to Pakistan 3.1994 (بدر [Badr])
Ardent	F184	1011	Yarrow SB, Scotstoun	26.2.1974	9.5.1975	14.10.1977	sunk 22.5.1982
Avenger	F185	1012	Yarrow SB, Scotstoun	30.10.1974	20.11.1975	15.4.1978	to Pakistan 9.1994 (تیپپو سلطان [Tippu Sultan)

Technical data

Displacement standard, t	2750
Displacement full, t	3250
Length, m	109.7 wl 117.0 oa
Breadth, m	12.7
Draught, m	6.00 screws
No of shafts	2
Machinery	COGOG: 2 Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines / 2 Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1A gas turbines
Power, h. p.	56000 / 8500
Max speed, kts	30
Fuel, t	gas turbine oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	4000(17)
Armament	F169, 170: 1 x 4 Sea Cat GWS24 SAM (12 Sea Cat), 1 x 1 - 114/55 Mk 8, 2 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 7, 1 helicopter (Wasp) F171-174, 184, 185: 4 x 1 Exocet MM38 SSM (4 MM38/GWS50), 1 x 4 Sea Cat GWS24 SAM (12 Sea Cat), 1 x 1 - 114/55 Mk 8, 2 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 7, 1 helicopter (Lynx)
Electronic equipment	type 992Q, 2x type 912, type 978 radars, type 184M, type 162M sonars, UAA(1) ECM suite, 2x Corvus decoy RL, type 182 torpedo decoy, CAAIS DBA-2 CCS
Complement	175 - 192

Standard scale images

Graphics

Project history

The Type 21 design had its origin in the need to replace the diesel-engined frigates of the Leopard and Salisbury classes. At the same time private shipbuilders were lobbying for a chance to build a frigate for the RN without what they claimed to be excessively high standards imposed by the MoD's Ship Department at Bath. It was claimed that such a frigate would not only be cheaper (£3.5m as against £5m for a Leander at contemporary prices), but also a good export item. The Controller of the Navy backed this claim wholeheartedly, even to the point of trying to cut the Ship Department out of the design process.

The result was a wasted opportunity to bring private and official designers together. Details of the design did not meet certain naval requirements, the cost was £14.4m for the first ship, and the vessels lacked sufficient 'stretch' to take the next generation of weapons (specifically the Type 2016 sonar, a long-range radar and the Sea Wolf missile). They were popular with the RN, however, particularly because of their comfortable officers' accommodation (in contrast, the ratings' accommodation was below the standard in contemporary RN ships) and because they handled easily.

From Active onwards, four MM38 Exocet SSMs were fitted in 'B' position, toed inwards to allow the blast to vent outboard to port and starboard. The triple STWS-1 close-range torpedo defence was also fitted after completion. The fire control system was a new departure: as no suitable British light system existed, the RN bought the Italian Selenia RTN-10X radar tracker and combined it with the British Ferranti WSA-4 below-decks equipment, providing control for both the 114mm gun and the Seacat GWS24. Although there was talk of the design allowing the replacement of Sea Cat by Sea Wolf this was never possible because the ships were delivered overweight and did not have the margin of stability necessary for such a big system. A Lynx helicopter armed with lightweight torpedoes was carried.

The Royal Australian Navy contributed a large sum (believed to be about 35%) to the design costs, with the intention of building five ships in Australian yards; this project never came to fruition, however, and although Argentina showed some interest, no export orders were ever won for this design, In 1980 it was confirmed that the class would not receive a modernization, but all six survivors were stiffened post-1982.

In 1977 in the Far East Amazon suffered a bad fire, and this drew attention to the risk of building warships with all-aluminium superstructures, a risk underlined by the Falklands conflict. The designers maintained that they could not have met the requirement to raise the weapon load without saving as much topweight as possible. To this their critics replied that the flimsiness of aluminium accentuates the vulnerability of modem warships to relatively minor damage. Whatever the merits of the argument, after the construction of the Amazon class the British Naval Staff changed their minds about aluminium, and stipulated that future ships use steel only.

Modernizations

1980-1982, all: - 1 Wasp helicopter, type 978 radar; + 2 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 7, 2 x 3 - 324 STWS.2 TT, 1 Lynx helicopter, type 1006 radar

1985, Amazon: + 4 x 1 Exocet MM38 SSM (4 MM38/GWS50)

late 1980s, all: - type 992Q radar, type 184M sonar; + type 992R radar, type 184P sonar

late 1980s, Arrow, Avenger: + 2x type 670 ECM suites

Naval service

During the Falklands conflict Ardent was badly damaged by air-launched unguided rockets on 21 May 1982 and sank shortly afterwards; Antelope was hit by bombs on 23 May, and blew up on the following day while an explosives expert was trying to defuse an unexploded bomb.