- Yes
- No
History of the class:
In 1960s the the Royal Navy looked for a replacement of the Type 61 and Type 41 frigates. Royal Navy Ships up to this point were normally designed by the Ministry of Defence’s Ship Department in Bath but private shipyards in this case Vosper Thorneycroft campaigned for the right to also design a ship to the MODs requirements. They could offer a completely new frigate design that was significantly cheaper than the Type 12I Leander Class which the Ministry of Defence’s Ship Department offered.
This design was based on vospers own Mk 5 and Mk 7 designs which they intended for export customers (Iran and Lybia), but instead of those designs which were gas turbine + diesel propelled, the new RN version was to be entirely gas turbine powered. This lead to major problems during the design phase since the elimination of the heavy diesel engines low down in the ship meant they needed to reevaluate the stability calculations for the ships. They firstly tried that by using large amounts of aluminium in the superstructure but after a fire on the first ship of the class HMS Amazon in 1977 they reverted and used steel for the subsequent ships. But the stability issues plagued the ships through their service careers and it meant that they would not be able to fit big Upgrades like Sea Wolf or a Towed Array. The full gas turbine propulsion meant that the ships had a very high fuel burn compared to their contemporary Type 12I Leander class frigate which used steam power.
The first of the 8 ship class was launched in 1971 and commissioned in 1974. And all except HMS Amazon would take part in the 1982 Falklands War where they proved to be very capable as shore bombardment ships since they provided a stable gun platform. 2 ships were sunk during the War (Ardent and Antelope) , with both losses attributed to argentine Bombs. After the war they would serve for another 11-12 years, getting limited refits to their systems and weapons while also getting stability improvements. But the lack of stability and with that the lack of larger upgrades the decision was taken to lay them up in 1988 and they were sold to Pakistan in 1993-1994.
HMS Active:
Built by Vosper Thornycroft, launched November 23rd, 1972 and commissioned June 17th, 1977. She would see service alongside her sisters in the Falklands where she performed escort, air defence and bombardment duties. After the War she was refitted and a large steel plate was welded to both sides of her hull (this was a standard refit because of hull cracking that the class experienced). In addition to that she picked up another 2 20mm Orleikons near the flight deck. In 1988 she provided desaster relief after an Hurricane struck Jamaica and Grand Cayman, She was decommissioned: September 23rd, 1994 and sold to Pakistan.
Specs:
Length: 360 ft (110 m) (waterline)
384 ft (117 m)
Beam: 41.8 ft (12.7 m)
Drought: 19 ft (5.8 m)
Propulsion: 2 × Tyne cruise turbines: 8,500 shp (6,300 kW)
2 × Olympus boost turbines: 50,000 shp (37,000 kW)
Speed: 37knots max (69 km/h)
Crew: 13 officers, 164 ratings
Sensors: 1 × Radar Type 992Q low-level search
1 × Radar Type 978 navigation
2 × Radar Type 912 fire-control
Sonar Type 184M and 162M
Weaponry:
1x 4.5 inch (114 mm) Mark 8 naval gun (Mod 0)
4 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
4 × MM38 Exocet missiles (for balance sake obviously only as non functioning models XD)
1 × quadruple GWS-24 Sea Cat SAMs (see my Type 12I suggestion for why they are balanced in the current game)
2 × triple ASW torpedo tubes (with Mk.46 ASW torpedos)
2 × Corvus chaff launchers
1 × Type 182 towed decoy
Aircraft:
1 x Westland Lynx helicopter
Placement in the game
Since we won’t see exocet missiles for a while HMS Active would make a perfect high tier Costal frigate that could already be introduced right now. The only thing that would make it unique would be the seacat missle system. But this System is less capable than missiles that are already in game for ships on Bravy and Douglas. They have only around 5-6km range which only makes them marginally better than the Italian Saetta. All in all it would make a very well rounded and also not balance disturbing addition to Britains high tier Costal lineup.
Some more Images:
Short Video:
Sources:
Spoiler
(Britain 4.5"/55 (11.4 cm) QF Mark 8 Mod 0 and Mod 1 - NavWeaps)
HMS Active (F171) - Wikipedia
Type 21 frigate - Wikipedia
Mark 8 Mod.1 0 naval gun system 4.5 inches 55-caliber 113mm
https://www.hampshireprints.co.uk/products/hms-active-f171-royal-navy-type-21-frigate-photo-print-or-framed-print
AMAZON class frigate
Amazon Class
HMS Active-(F171) | Type 21 Club