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DESTROYERS AND
FRIGATES
There
is currently little international agreement on the classification
of warships in the 2,000-6,000 ton range. At the end of the war there
was a fairly clear system, with a descending order in tonnage and size
from cruiser through destroyer to frigate and corvette, but today there
is no such logic. The Royal Navy, for example, designates the 4,100-ton
Type 42 class ships as destroyers, but the larger Type 22s (4,900 tons)
are frigates, while the NATO system for Soviet warships classifies the
Kynda class (5,580 tons) as cruisers but the 8,000-ton Udaloys are
destroyers.
In
the US Navy escort ships of 10,000 tons (the Virginia class),
classified in the 1970s as frigates, are now designated cruisers, while
the Spruance class (7 ,810 tons) are classified as destroyers and the
Ticonderoga class, on an identical hull but with a greater displacement
(9,600 tons), are cruisers. To add to the confusion the French Navy
used to rate ships such as the Type C 67 (5,745 tons) as corvettes, but
then re-rated them as frigates, although they were then given 'D'
(destroyer) rather than the logical'F' (frigate) pennant numbers. Nor
have the French dropped the designation corvette, having rated the new
Type C 70 (4,170 tons) as such, although these too have 'D' pennant
numbers. Rather than try to devise anew and more logical
system-and thus almost certainly add to the confusion the ship
designations used here are those given by the respective navies, or by
NATO in the case of Warsaw Pact warships, however illogical they may be.
The
problem facing virtually all navies is that the price of even small
warships has soared and arguments over quality versus quantity have
become more acute than ever. A hull of about 4,000 tons is as much as
most navies can afford, in terms both of finance and manpower and of
construction and dockyard facilities. However, these medium-sized ships
are required to fulfil a number of roles and to be able to deal with
airborne threats, surfaceskimming missiles, other surface warships and
submarines.
As
a result, some navies have tried to produce general-purpose escorts
capable of meeting all these threats, the outcome almost invariably
being ships which have some capability in all fields but are
outstanding in none- something like the Chinese Luda class (3,900
tons), which has missiles, gnus, ASW rocket launchers and depthcharges,
but neither a good anti-air nor an adequate antisurface capability,
while its ASW effectiveness is minimal.
The
US Navy has probably poured the most resources into this area and,
at least until the 1986 round of budget cuts, it had the most ambitious
future plans. The backbone of the escort fleet is the Spruance class of
31 ships, which are optimized for the ASW mission, plus the four very
similar ships of the Kidd class, originally ordered by the Shah of Iran
and constructed on Spruance hulls, but with a more general capability
conferred by their two twin Mk 26 launchers firing Standard SAMs and
Asroc ASW missiles. The Shah was deposed before they could be delivered
and they were eventually bought for the US Navy, making a very useful
addition to the fleet. The remaining liS destroyers are the 10 Coontz
class and 23 Charles F Adams class ships, most of which are due to be
given a DDG mid-life upgrade, but the USN's plans now centre on the
Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class, 29 of which are planned, and which will
be followed by 30 of an Improved Arleigh Burke design, with better
electronics and machinery and-most importantly-the helicopter
facilities omitted from the original design.
The
US Navy also has a large fleet of 116 frigates, the oldest of
which, the Bronstein Class (2,690 tons), date back to 1963. The
biggest group comprises the 52 large Oliver Hazard Perry ( FFG 7)
Class vessels of 3,585 tons displacement, equal in size to many other
navies' destroyers. Armed
with Harpoon SSMs, Standard SAMs, one 76mm gun and one Phalanx
20mm CIWS, and equipped with two LAMPS III ASW helicopters, these
capable ships have also attracted orders from Spain and Australia.
The
Soviet Navy built a large number of destroyers as part of the great
postwar naval expansion plan. and 44 members of the Skory, Kotlin, SAM
Kotlin, Kanin and Kildin classes remain in service, with others in
reserve. Then, in the years 1963-72, came the Kashin class (4,500
tons), the first major warships to be powered exclusively by gas
t'urbines; 13 of the original model are still in service, along with
six of the Modified Kashin class. There was then along gap until the
Sovremennyy (7 ,900 tons) and Udaloy (8.000 tons) classes were laid
down in 1976 and 1978 respectively. The Sovremennyys
are optimized for
the surface and anti-air roles and have a heavy missile and gun
armament, as well as carrying one Ka-32 Helix helicopter. The Udaloys
are optimized for the ASW role and use a totally
different hull design
from that of the Sovremennyys, in marked contrast to the practice of
WesterJ navies, which tend more and mor to economise by using common
hulls for different weapons and sensor fits to meet different roles
current examples include the US Ticonderoga/ Spruance, French Georges
Leygues/ Cassard and Dutch Kortenaer/Jakob van Heemskerck variations.
Six Sovremennyys and eight Udaloys were in service by 1988, with at
least two more of each class building.
The
Soviet Navy also has a largl number of frigates, pre-eminent among
which is the Krivak class, 33 strong by 1986 with one more building.
Virtually all Western frigates are designed as convoy-especially
merchant convoy-escorts, but this role is not really required in the
Soviet Navy and most frigates, parlicularly those of the Krivak class,
are therefore designed as escorts for task groups.
The
Royal Navy emerged from World War II with a large fleet of destroyers
and frigates, most of which had ASW as their primary function. In a
major programme in the 1950s large numbers of the destroyers were
converted into specialized ASW ships and redesignated frigates, while
the destroyer line continued with the Daring class (3,699 tons) and
then the County class. The latter were commissioned in the 1960s, and
at 6,200 tons displacement were as large as many cruisrs in other
navies, such as the contemporary liS Leahy (5,670 tons) and Soviet
Kynda (5,550 tons) classes.
Next
to appear was the Bristol (7,100 tons), the sole example built of the
proposed Type 82 class, which had been intended as escorts for the
planned aircraft carrier CVA-01. The latest Type 42 destroyers (4,100
tons), known initially as the Sheffield class, are designed for the
area air defence of a task group. They have a mixed gun and
missile armament, and the latest to be constructed (Batch 3) have been
stretched by some 51ft (16m) in overall length to accommodate better
weapons systems and to improve speed and seakeeping.
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Spruence (8,040 tons). Very large for
the designation destroyer, these ships are heavily armed, and
displacement has exceeded the planned 6,800 tons. ASW weapons include
Asroc, ASW torpedoes and SH-2F or SH-3B ASW helicopters. Bow.mounted
sonar is SQS-53A and SQA-19 towed array will be fitted.
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Bremen (3,750 tons). Based on the
Dutch Kortenser design, the Bremen class frigates are optimized for
Baltic conditions. ASW weapon systems comprise Mk 32 torpedo tubes and
two Westland Lynx Mk 88 helicopters, while the bow.mounted sonar is the
Germen-designed DSQS-21 B(Z) with electronic stabilization.
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Broadsword (4,900 tons). The Type 22
has been developed through three batches, of which the third is
illustrated, though ASW armament is the same in all versions,
comprising six 12.75in STWS.1 torpedo tubes and one or two Westland
Lynx helicopters armed with the widely used Stingray ASW torpedoes.
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Georges Leygues (4, 170 tons).
Principal ASW ships of the French Navy, the Type C70s are designated
corvettes. ASW armament is L5 torpedoes and two Westland Lynx
helicopters; sonars are the bow. mounted DUBV-23 and the DUBV-43 VDS,
the latter being replaced by towed arrays in the last four ships.
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Maestrale (3,200 tons). Eight
Maestrale class frigates have been built to a design developed from
that of the Lupo class.
ASW armament consists of two 21 in (533mm) tubes for A. 184 torpedoes
and two AB 212 ASW helicopters, while sonar fit comprises the
hull-mounted DE 11608 and the variable depth DE 1164, both by Asytheon.
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Kortenser (3,786 tons). ASW element
of the Dutch EASTLANT task groups, these ships have four tubes for Mk
32 324mm ASW torpedoes and carry one or two Westland Lynx helicopters;
sonar is the hull-mounted SQS-505.
This successful design is in service with the Netherlands, Greek and
West German navies.
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Udaloy (8,200 tons). Latest
Soviet
ASW ships, these destroyers have two ABU-so00 ASW rocket launchers,
eight 21 in (533mm) torpedo tubes and two Helix-A ASW helicopters. A
large LF bow sonar and a VDS are the principal ASW sensors. It is
possible that a towed array will be fitted in due course.
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Hstsuyuki (3,700 tons). The leading
ASW element of Japan's growing destroyer fleet, the Hatsuyukis are
armed with Asroc, six 324mm torpedo tubes and one HSS-2B helicopter
(licence-built Sea King).
Current sonar fs the hull-mounted dQS-4, but the US SQA-19 towed array
is to be fitted to all ships.
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