Whitby class frigate
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| Missing image HMS_Whitby_(Whitby-class_frigate).jpg HMS Whitby HMS Whitby | |
| Type 12 (Whitby) class | 
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| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2150 tons standard / 2560 tons full load |
| Length: | 370 ft |
| Beam: | 41 ft |
| Draught: | 17 ft |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts, 2 steam turbines, 2 boilers, 30,430 shp |
| Speed: | 29 knots |
| Range: | 5200 natuical miles at 12 knots |
| Complement: | 221 |
| Armament: | 1 x dual 4.5-in gun
1 x dual 40mm gun (later removed and replaced by a single 40mm gun) 1 x Mk.10 Limbo mortar 12 x 21-in torpedo tubs (later removed) |
The Type-12 Whitby class were a six-ship class of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) frigates of the Royal Navy. The class became the template for a number of subsequent classes, including the Leanders, arguably the most popular frigate in RN history.
They were incredibly fast, at 29 knots, designed to intercept the fast submarines of the Soviet Union. They were powered by steam engines rather than diesel-power, due to no large diesel-powered warship design having sufficient power to provide the speed required. However, this and other aspects made the Whitbys more expensive and sophisticated to produce in large numbers in the event of a major war, and so the Type 14 ASW frigate, the 'Third World War corvette', was developed to complement the Whitbys.
They had very capable seakeeping in rought waters, such as the Atlantic Ocean. They had a good armament of one dual 4.5-in gun, two 40mm guns, twelve 21-in torpedo tubes and two Limbo ASW mortars, the latter two vital to the Whitbys ASW role. However, the Whitby's specialised ASW role limited the class to what it could offer to the RN, and with the advent of nuclear submarines, the Whitby's time was numbered.
In 1966, HMS Blackpool was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy, while they waited for the delivery of HMNZS Canterbury, a Leander class frigate. It would remain in New Zealand service until 1971 when it returned to the RN, and decommissioned that same year. All other ships, except Eastbourne and Torquay, were decommissioned in the 1970s. The latter two ships were decommissioned in 1984 and 1985 respectively. HM ships Scarborough and Tenby were intended to have been sold to Pakistan, however, the country could not afford the refits required for the two ships, and thus the sale was aborted.
| Whitby-class frigate |
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Blackpool | Eastbourne | Scarborough | Tenby | Torquay | Whitby |
| List of frigates of the Royal Navy |