- Yes
- No
TL;DR
A vehicle tree with the common denominator being British shipbuilding companies. Features Cold War export ships from torpedo boats to frigates, armed with familiar weapons like the 20mm Oerlikon, 40mm Bofors, 4-inch, and 4.5 inch guns. Also some ships have missiles.
What, Why?
Why not? People have been suggesting and arguing about adding different national and “alliance” trees/lines since WT came out, and I thought instead of making a national tree, what if I make a corporate tree instead, based on the somewhat fascinating world of British 1950-1990 naval exports. Also a quick exercise to see if British Shipbuilding even made enough ships to make a mini tree. I’ve put it in “Other Nations” cause there’s a lot of different countries in here. Some ships aren’t the same rank with their already existing counterparts because I vigorously disagree with some ships’ positions. Also a good opportunity for me to suggest some ships with very little “historical” info (like the Garian-class).Some guidelines:
No hand-me-downs - Only ships ordered for export, no ex-RN frigates, corvettes, etc.
Company-built only - Only ships built directly by a British company (or at most a foreign subsidiary), ie: HMAS Fremantle is fair game, but the rest of the class is not.
No in-game nations/sub-tree - Can’t be a ship operated by one of the main trees and sub-trees (Finland, Hungary, SA), or Scandinavia because I am 90% sure Gaijin will just make that part of Sweden.Note: It’s pretty implied that this would be a (UK) sub-tree, but I’ve made it a full coastal tree that idk, can be somehow added by itself. If this is added as a sub-tree, some of the filler and low rank patrol boats can be cut.
Background:
During the 1960s, British shipbuilding enjoyed huge success in exporting naval vessels around the world, with many of their customers being former colonies. The ships were of high quality and had many modern features for their time, air-conditioning, compact computer-guided weapons, guided missiles, and gas turbine propulsion. The biggest export success was Vosper-Thronycroft’s Mark 10 frigates, aka the Niterói-class, which saw seven 3800 ton frigates being built for the Brazilian Navy.
These British-built ships were of high quality, with some ships still serving to this day. However, such success would not last, they faced fierce competition from other nations, and in 1977 the majority of large British shipbuilders would be nationalised into British Shipbuilders, which was supposed to be more efficient than the variety of companies before… only for a new government to be elected two years later that began a process of privatization and closing shipyards, and in 1982 it was forced to privatize all its remaining assets. The end of the Cold War dealt a final blow to the industry, with military orders scarce and the remaining companies forced to switch to primarily civilian shipbuilding. Rather ironically, by the turn of the century, most of the old major shipbuilders were still owned by a single company, BAE Systems, which along with Babcock International are responsible for the majority of British warships. In the modern day, both BAE and Babcock have seen some export success, with BAE’s Type 26 and Babcock’s Type 31 ships having been ordered by Australia and Canada, and Indonesia and Poland respectively.
The Tree:
Notes:
17 nations + 1 private venture are currently featured, not bad for a bunch of suits, and there’s more countries not featured because they bought basically duplicate ships (ie: V-T 103ft patrol boats).Line 1: Fast attack craft and smaller patrol boats
Line 2: Larger patrol boats and corvettes
Line 3: Frigates, and a training shipAlso Rank 5 ends with some SSM-armed ships for some extra spice. Many later ships have the Seacat SAM too, but I doubt it has any real anti-ship value.
Overview:
Rank I:
Seadog (P1)
Fairey Marine Lance-class Patrol Boat, The Gambia
Dimensions: 14.8m x 4.8m x 1.3m
Displacement: 17t full
Speed: 24 kts
Crew: 6
Armament:
1x1 20mm Oerlikon Mk.4
2x1 7.62mm FN-MAGJato (P2)
Fairey Marine Tracker 2-class Patrol Boat, The Gambia
Dimensions: 19.3m x 5m x 1.5m
Displacement: 32t full
Speed: 29 kts
Crew: 11
Armament:
1x1 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01
2x1 7.62mm FN-MAGHMNZS Pukaki (P3568)
Brooke Marine Lake-class Patrol Boat, New Zealand
Dimensions: 32.8m x 6.1m x 3.6m
Displacement: 105t std, 135t full
Speed: 29 kts
Crew: 21
Armament:
1x2 12.7mm M2
2x1 7.62mm FN-MAG
1x1 81mm M29 MortarQENS Al Wussail (Q14)
Vosper Thornycroft 103ft Patrol Boat, Qatar
Dimensions: 32.4m x 6.3m x 1.6m
Displacement: 120t full
Speed: 27 kts
Crew: 27
Armament:
2x1 20mm Oerlikon Mk.7
Rank II:
UBS T201
Saunders Roe Dark-class MGB, Myanmar/Burma
Dimensions: 21.8m x 5.9m x 1.8m
Displacement: 30t std, 39t full
Speed: 40 kts
Crew: 15
Armament:
1x1 114mm QF Mk.1
1x1 40mm Bofors Mk.7HMBS Yellow Elder (P03)
Fairey Marine Protector-class Patrol Boat, Bahamas
Dimensions: 33m x 6.7m x 2.1m
Displacement: 100t std, 181t full
Speed: 30 kts
Crew: 21
Armament:
1x1 20mm Rh202 Mk.20
3x1 7.62mm FN-MAGNNS Enugu (P05)
Camper & Nicholson Ford-class Patrol Boat, Nigeria, first warship built for the Nigerian Navy
Dimensions: 35.7m x 6.1m x 2m
Displacement: 120t std, 142t full
Speed: 18 kts
Crew: 26
Armament:
1x1 40mm Bofors
2x1 20mm Oerlikon
DCRHMAS Fremantle (P 203)
Brooke Marine PCF-420 (Fremantle-class) Patrol Boat, Australia
Dimensions: 42m x 7.2m x 1.8m
Displacement: 200t std, 230t full
Speed: 30 kts
Crew: 23
Armament:
1x1 40mm Bofors AN-4
2x1 12.7mm M2
1x1 81mm Mk.2 mortar
Rank III:
KDB Penyerang (P16)
Vosper Thornycroft (Singapore) Perwira-class Patrol Boat, Brunei
Dimensions: 27.7m x 6.1m x 1.2m
Displacement: 30t std, 39t full
Speed: 32 kts
Crew: 14
Armament:
2x1 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01
2x1 7.62mm FN-MAGKBD Pahlawan
Vosper Thornycroft Mod. Brave-class MGB, Brunei, first warship built for the Royal Brunei Navy
Dimensions: 30.2m x 7.8m x 2.1m
Displacement: 95t std, 114t full
Speed: 57 kts
Crew: 20
Armament:
1x1 40mm Bofors L/60 Mk.9
1x2 20mm Oerlikon Mk.7RLNS Khawlan (PC2)
Brooke Marine Garian-class Patrol Boat, Libya
Dimensions: 32.3m x 6.5m x 1.7m
Displacement: 120t std, 159t full
Speed: 24 kts
Crew: 22
Armament:
1x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9 (690 rds)
1x1 20mm Oerlikon Mk.7 (690 rds)GNS Kromantse (F17)
Vosper Mark 1 Corvette, Ghana
Dimensions: 54m x 8.7m x 3.1m
Displacement: 435t std, 510t full
Speed: 20 kts
Crew: 54
Armament:
1x1 102mm QF Mk.XXIII (200 rds)
1x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9 (1200 rds)
1x3 Squid ASW Mortar (40 DCs)
Rank IV:
Al Hussein (P101)
Vosper Thornycroft Hawk-class, Jordan
Dimensions: 30.5m x 6.9m x 2.5m
Displacement: 95t std, 124t full
Speed: 32 kts
Crew: 16
Armament:
1x2 30mm Oerlikon KCB GCM-A03-2
1x1 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01
2x1 12.7mm M2NNS Hadejia (P168)
Brooke Marine Makurdi-class Patrol Boat, Nigeria, 1981 refit
Dimensions: 32.6m x 6.1m x 2.1m
Displacement: 115t std, 145t full
Speed: 20 kts
Crew: 24
Armament:
2x2 30mm Oerlikon KCB Emerlec-30KD Perkasa (P150)
Vosper Thornycroft Mod. Brave-class (Perkasa) MTB, Malaysia
Dimensions: 30.2m x 7.8m x 2.1m
Displacement: 95t std, 114t full
Speed: 54 kts
Crew: 24
Armament:
1x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9
1x1 20mm Oerlikon Mk.7
4x1 533mm Mk.2 TCsRLNS Tobruk (C01)
Vosper Mark 1 Corvette, Libya, fairly sure this is first warship built for the Royal Libyan Navy
Dimensions: 54m x 8.7m x 4m
Displacement: 440t std, 508t full
Speed: 18 kts
Crew: 63
Armament:
1x1 102mm QF Mk.XXIII (200 rds)
4x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9 (4800 rds)
2x1 12.7mm M2SNV Al Mabrukah (A1)
Brooke Marine Al Said-class Training Ship, Oman, 1984 refit
Dimensions: 61.5m x 10.7m x 3m
Displacement: 785t std, 930t full
Speed: 17 kts
Crew: 39
Armament:
1x1 40mm Breda-Bofors L/70 564
2x1 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01HMNZS Waikato (F55)
Harland & Wolff Leander-class Frigate, New Zealand, 1977 refit
Dimensions: 113.4m x 12.5m x 5.5m
Displacement: 2350t std, 2830t full
Speed: 28 kts
Crew: 263
Armament:
1x2 114mm QF Mk.5
1x4 Seacat GWS-22 SAM (12 msl)
2x3 324mm Mk.32 ASWT
Wasp Helicopter
Rank V:
RLNS Susa (P01)
Vosper Thornycroft Mod. Brave-class (Susa) Missile Boat, Libya
Dimensions: 30.5m x 7.8m x 2.1m
Displacement: 95t std, 114t full
Speed: 54 kts
Crew: 20
Armament:
2x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9
2x4 SS.12M SSMARV Constitución (P-11)
Vosper Thornycroft Constitución-class MGB, Venezuela
Dimensions: 36.9m x 7.1m x 1.8m
Displacement: 170t full
Speed: 31 kts
Crew: 17
Armament:
1x1 76mm OTO-Melara CompactRSS Sovereignty (P71)
Vosper Thornycroft 110ft Type B MGB, Singapore
Dimensions: 33.5m x 6.4m x 1.8m
Displacement: 100t std, 130t full
Speed: 32 kts
Crew: 19
Armament:
1x1 76mm Bofors TAK76
1x1 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01ARV Federación (P-12)
Vosper Thornycroft Constitución-class Missile Boat, Venezuela
Dimensions: 36.9m x 7.1m x 1.8m
Displacement: 170t full
Speed: 31 kts
Crew: 17
Armament:
1x1 40mm Bofors L/70
2x1 Otomat SSMNNS Dorina (F81)
Vosper Thornycroft Mark 3 Corvette, Nigeria
Dimensions: 61.6m x 9.5m x 3.3m
Displacement: 500t std, 660t full
Speed: 22 kts
Crew: 66
Armament:
1x2 102mm QF Mk.XVI
2x1 40mm Bofors L/60 Mk.9
2x1 20mm Oerlikon Mk.2ANNS Erinmi (F83)
Vosper Thornycroft Mark 9 Corvette, Nigeria
Dimensions: 69m x 9.6m x 3.6m
Displacement: 680t std, 860t full
Speed: 27 kts
Crew: 90
Armament:
1x1 76mm OTO-Melara Compact (750 rds)
1x1 40mm L/70 Bofors 359
2x1 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01
1x3 Seacat GWS-24 SAM (15 msl)
1x2 375mm Bofors SR-375 ASWRL (24 rkt)QENS Barzan (Q04)
Vosper Thornycroft Mod. Vita-class (Barzan) Missile Corvette, Qatar
Dimensions: 65.3m x 9m x 2.3m
Displacement: 376t std, 530t full
Speed: 35 kts
Crew: 47
Armament:
1x1 76mm OTO-Melara Compact
1x7 30mm Goalkeeper SGE-30
2x1 12.7mm M2
2x4 MM40 Exocet SSM
1x6 Sadral SAM (6 Mistral msl)KD Rahmat (F24)
Yarrow Rahmat-class Frigate, Malaysia
Dimensions: 93.8m x 10.3m x 4.5m
Displacement: 1250t std, 1600t full
Speed: 26 kts
Crew: 140
Armament:
1x1 114mm QF Mk.5
2x1 40mm Bofors L/70 350
1x4 Seacat GWS-21 SAM (8 msl)
1x3 305mm Limbo Mk.10 ASW mortarLNS Dat Assawari (F01)
Vosper Thornycroft Mark 7 Frigate, Libya
Dimensions: 101.6m x 11.1m x 3.4m
Displacement: 1325t std, 1650t full
Speed: 37.5 kts
Crew: 132
Armament:
1x1 114mm QF Mk.8 Mod.0
2x1 40mm Bofors L/70 350
1x2 35mm Oerlikon GDM-A
1x3 Seacat GWS-21 SAM (18 msl)
1x3 305mm Limbo Mk.10 ASW mortarNiterói (F40)
Vosper Thornycroft Mark 10 (Niterói) Frigate, Brazil
Dimensions: 129.2m x 13.5m x 5.6m
Displacement: 3200t std, 3800t full
Speed: 30 kts
Crew: 200
Armament:
1x1 114mm QF Mk.8 Mod.0
2x1 40mm Bofors L/70 564
2x3 Seacat GWS-22 SAM (60 msl)
1x1 BRANIK ASW missile (10 Ikara msl)
1x2 375mm Bofors SR-375A ASWRL
2x3 324mm Mk.32 ASW TT
DCR (5 DC)
Lynx helicopterIIS Saam (DE12)
Vosper Thornycroft Mark 5 (Saam) Frigate, Iran
Dimensions: 94.5m x 10.5m x 3.5m
Displacement: 1250t std, 1540t full
Speed: 40 kts
Crew: 135
Armament:
1x1 114mm QF Mk.5
1x2 35mm Oerlikon GDM-A
1x5 Sea Killer Mark 2 SSM
1x3 Seacat GWS-23 SAM (12 msl)
1x3 305mm Limbo Mk.10 ASW mortar
Premiums:
HMNZS Rototi (P3569)
Brooke Marine Lake-class Patrol Boat, New Zealand
Dimensions: 32.8m x 6.1m x 3.6m
Displacement: 105t std, 135t full
Speed: 29 kts
Crew: 21
Armament:
1x2 12.7mm M2
2x1 7.62mm FN-MAG
1x1 81mm M29 MortarGNS Keta (F18)
Vickers-Armstrong Vospers Mark 1 Corvette, Ghana
Dimensions: 54m x 8.7m x 3.1m
Displacement: 435t std, 510t full
Speed: 20 kts
Crew: 54
Armament:
1x1 102mm QF Mk.XXIII (200 rds)
1x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9 (1200 rds)
1x3 Squid ASW Mortar (40 DCs)Ferocity
Vosper Thornycroft Mod. Brave-class MTB, Private Venture, very briefly commissioned in RN.
Dimensions: 27.4m x 7.3m x 2.1m
Displacement: 95t std, 114t full
Speed: 50 kts
Crew: 14
Armament:
2x1 40mm Bofors Mk.9
4x1 533mm Mk.2 TCs
Sources:
Blackman, R. V. B. (1961). Jane’s fighting ships 1960-61. Janes.
Blackman, R. V. B. (1970). Jane’s fighting ships 1969-70. Janes.
Moore, C. J. (1983). Jane’s fighting ships 1982-83. Janes.
Gardiner, R., Chumbley, S., & Budzbon, P. (1995). Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Naval Institute Press.
Sobański, M. (2002). Irańskie fregaty typu Saam . In Okręty Wojenne Vol. XII, Nr 56 (6/2002) (pp. 69-73).
Sobański, M. (2011). Libijska Marynarka Wojenna. In Okręty Wojenne Vol. XVIII, Nr 108 (4/2011) (pp. 90-101).
Ehlers, H. (2012). Fregaty biedaka. In Okręty Wojenne Vol. XIX, Nr 3/2012 (pp. 86-97).
Navypedia and Wikipedia
British warship exports in the 1960s and '70s | Heritage Machines
https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/vosper-thorneycroft
The British 'Dark' class - Coastal Forces Veterans
https://dave-mills.yolasite.com/saro-dark-class-mtbs.php
https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-fremantle-ii
ferocity - BMPT Forum - Page 1
British Military Powerboat Trust, Coastal Forces, Gunboats, Target Boats, High Speed Launches, Motor Gun Boats, Torpedo Boats, Patrol Boats, Seaplane Tenders
EX RAHMAT MUSEUM: About Us
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1981/march/brazilian-mk-10-frigates
Fragata 'Niterói' comemora seu 40º aniversário - Poder Naval
This “Brave” Class Fast Patrol Boats pdf document
Images:
Wikimedia Commons
Shipspotting
Корветы "Тобрук", Vosper MK1 Tobruk. Keta. Kromantse. (1/2) [Форумы Balancer.Ru]
MALAYSIAN NAVY - transportsofdelight
https://pusmas.navy.mil.my/index.php/ms/component/sppagebuilder?view=page&id=188
YELLOW ELDER (Bahamas) | Solent Archive
View of a P71 RSS Justice, which is a B Class patrol boat at …