- Yes
- No
Hello!, and welcome to my suggestion for the Type 81 Frigate in RN service, one of the most (In my opinion) underrated Ships Used by the RN in the cold war era. I feel this would be a good fit for the Top tier of the Coastal tree and help usher in the Missile age for British Ships in game.
History
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The Type 81 Class of Frigates (also known as the Tribal Class) were a class of General Purpose frigates designed in the 1950s as a Multirole Replacement to the Older Type 14 (Blackwood) Class ASW Frigates, These ships were designed primarily with Colonial Gunboat roles overseas, particularly in the Middle east in which the British were involved in many small local Conflicts throughout the Persian Gulf and the Aden protectorates. Due to this they also featured some very modern changes for the times, including the use of Bunks instead of Hammock for ratings and also the use of gas turbine engines to allow for the almost immediate deployment from harbour in the event of Nuclear war.
However, the Type 81 was also the first class in the Royal Navy to be designed around the use of a Helicopter and the first small vessel to carry a large search radar to detect air targets (something that would become the norm on many complementary and succeeding classes). The armament at first glance was rather underwhelming, with only two 4.5 inch guns taken from old WW2 destroyers as well as two 20 mm Cannons and two 40mm Bofors, however, the main focus of the Type 81 was its revolutionary flight deck, storing a single Westland Wasp in a small and space efficient hanger directly below the flight deck, from which the Helicopter could be raised and prepared for take-off in as little as five minutes.
Whilst not originally fitted with the Seacat, having a pair of Bofors AA guns in their place, the Type 81s were designed around the idea of the seacat, with a refit coming to all of the ships except Zulu (the last Type 81, and the only one to be built with the Seacat fitted) being refitted with excess Seacat Systems taken from various Scrapped and Refitted ships in the early 1970s.
The Ships saw service across the globe, filling the “Colonial Gunboat” role it was designed to fill, However, it saw its first real service in the Cod Wars against Iceland in the 1970s, in which several Type 81s found themselves thrust into service against Icelandic Gunboats, however due to design issues, struggled to manoeuvre with these gunboats in the heavy seas around iceland. Following this rather quiet service life compared to other ships they were withdrawn from service in the late 1970’s due to manpower issues. With the only further service being when Gurkha , Tartar and Zulu were briefly reactivated to cover the commitment holes left by ships taking part in the liberation of the Falkland islands. Following this the three ships were sold on to Indonesia, accepting them into service as Wilhelmus Zakarias Yohannes, Hasanuddin and Martha Khristina Tiyahahu respectively, in which they served for another 15 years before being withdrawn at the start of the new millenium.
Images
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HMS Ashanti From the Starboard whilst in port
Ashanti from the Rear, showing her Stern 4,5 Inch gun, Note the Seacat Launcher is that of another ship behind her
Ashanti Next to HMS Tiger
HMS Tartar Next to ARA Hercules in 1970
Ashanti During a Sharp turn to Starboard
HMS Gurkha During the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet review, Her port Seacat Launcher, among other weapons, in clear view
HMS Tartar during a time when she was open to the Public
HMS Tartar in Indonesian Service as KRI Hasanuddin
Specs/Armament
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General Characteristics
- Length: 109.73 meters (360 ft)
- Beam: 12.88 meters (42 ft 3 in)
- Draft: 4.04 meters (13 ft 3 in)
- Displacement: 2700 tons (full load)
- Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h)
- Range: 4500 NM (8300 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
- Complement: 253
- Propulsion: 1 x steam turbine (12500 shp) and 1 x Metrovick G-6 gas turbine (7500 shp / 5600 KW)
Sensors
- Type 965 air-search radar
- Type 993 low-angle search radar
- Type 978 navigation radar
- Type 903 gunnery fire-control radar
- Type 262 GWS-21 fire-control radar
Armament
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Main Armament
- 2 x 4.5 inch Mark 5 Mod.1Guns (Fore and Aft)
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Anti-Aircraft Armament
- 2 x Oerlikon 20mm cannons (Port and Starboard, Infront of the Bridge)
- 2 x GWS-20 Sea Cat Missile Systems (Port and Starboard, Behind Bridge)
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Anti-Submarine Armament
- 1 x Mark 10 - LIMBO ASW mortar
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Air Wing
- 1 x Westland Wasp Helicopter
Place in game
Spoiler
I feel this would be a good fit for the British Tree as it could offer a rather well rounded Frigate for the Top BRs of the Coastal Tree, on top of this, its main AA armament of the Seacat Missile system would offer a good step up in Anti Aircraft capability whilst not being overpowered, It would be a good first pick for the first british Missile ships before progressing onto more advanced systems such as the Sea Slug and later Sea Dart missiles. It could also be used to test the integration of Helicopters into naval, as it features a relatively lightly armed Helicopter that whilst being capable, would not be too hard for enemy AA to deal with.
In terms of BR, I would expect this to sit at around 3.7 or 4.0, being the current (as of December 2024) Top tier of the British coastal tree, with it offering a Missile armed ship at a cost of main armament compared to other British Ships of the Rank.
Sources
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Tribal-class frigate - Wikipedia
Tribal class Type 81 Frigate - Royal Navy
Type 81 Frigate (Tribal Class) (1961-1984) (RN) - UK Defence Forum
TRIBAL class frigate
Type 81 (Tribal Class) Frigate (UK)
x.com
An interesting video on the Wasp featuring Heli ops aboard HMS Nubian:
https://youtu.be/BsEJWwj0mXE?si=NOnhVDTiqrIcj4u6&
A video during the Cod Wars, taken from HMS Tartar