RN Frigates: Type 23 Duke Class

[Little h]

MONTROSE

HMS Montrose will arrive in Bahrain this week, becoming the first frigate based at the new UK Naval Support Facility.

HMS Montrose’s ‘Port’ crew will will trade places with their ‘starboard’ ship’s company, the first of several 4-month-long crew rotations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRvgGJX ... 5u9LjpkUfA

.... the 'starboard' ship's company being that of HMS Monmouth F235.

-------------------------------

Important to note that these two ships although both being Type 23's are now somewhat differently configured. Montrose having been through the £35m life extension (LIFEX) refit whilst Monmouth has not.
-------------------------------

See:-

June 27, 2018
New engines for the Royal Navy’s Type 23 Frigates
Originally designed with a service life of around 18 years, the RN’s Type 23 Frigates will now have to serve for around 30 years. All 13 frigates are undergoing life extension (LIFEX) refits and an important component of these upgrades is the Power Generation Machinery Upgrade (PGMU) to replace the ships’ four diesel generator sets.

The Type 23 LIFEX programme is being run by the Surface Ship Support Alliance (a partnership between the MoD, Babcock and BAE Systems) and began in June 2015 when HMS Argyll was taken in hand at Devonport. At the time of writing HMS Argyll, Westminster, Montrose, Northumberland and Kent have all completed LIFEX refits. The most obvious external change is the fitting of the CAAM Sea Ceptor missile system to replace the ageing GWS-26 Sea Wolf but the refits also include major changes to equipment, the combat system, chilled water arrangements and work to extend the life of the hull and superstructure. Unfortunately, the first ships to undergo LIFEX have not received new engines and will have to wait until their next major refit. HMS Richmond will be the first ship to receive the machinery upgrade and is currently mid-way through her refit in Devonport and work has also started on HMS Portland and HMS Lancaster. The LIFEX refit of each Type 23 is costing at least £35M per ship, not including the PGMU. Totalling around £600M for this work across the frigate fleet, this is a very necessary and worthwhile investment but could have been much reduced if the Type 26 frigates had been ordered earlier.

The oldest Type 23s HMS Argyll and HMS Lancaster will never receive the PGMU. Assuming they survive future defence cuts, they will have to soldier on with their Paxman diesels until they go out of service in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The project is set to be completed by 2024 when last of the other 11 ships receives its new engines.

Source; Save the Royal Navy
________________________________________________________

So; must have been a variety of aquaint courses followed by an interesting FOST period for Monmouth (Montrose stbd ship's company) - whilst a somewhat regressive step for the 'port' ship's company from Montrose about to embark on the Monmouth

[Brian James]

Type 23 Duke Class Frigate HMS Kent pictured at speed off the coast of Scotland,2019.

[Pelican]

HMS Montrose's arrival in Bahrain heralds new era in Gulf

A new era in Royal Navy operations in the Middle East begins today with the arrival of HMS Montrose in Bahrain – ready to begin a three-year mission.

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... CczmbNVE6s

[ivorthediver]

Good luck to them all and hope all goes well for them in this new venture

[Pelican]

HMS Westminster - SNMG1

The next unit that came to Gdynia is HMS Westminster (F237). HMS Westminster is a Type 23 rocket type frigate and along with the other twelve ships it is a workhorse on the seas and oceans. The ships of this type visited the port of Gdynia many times during the maneuvers and
visits of NATO ship teams.

See, which includes photos - https://odwaszegofotokorespondenta.blog ... NxakCOwhcY
Note translation box.

[Pelican]

HMS MONTROSE WINS FLEET AWARD

HMS Montrose has been singled out by the RN’s second most senior sailor for her outstanding safety record and culture.
Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd named the Type 23 the Navy’s ‘safe guardian’ of the past 12 months, presented to the warship or unit which demonstrates the highest standards of Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) protection on board.
The mantra is simple: doing things safely is a priority – a safe ship is a more effective ship and benefits everyone on board.
Montrose has just completed a mammoth passage from Devonport to Bahrain via the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean – a voyage which took her six months and 47,000 miles… on top of a busy period of work-up, Fleet Ready Escort duties and a short stint in the Baltic.

Continues with image at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... leet-award

[Pelican]

HMS WESTMINSTER ON NATO BALTIC MISSION

HMS Westminster is approaching the half-way point of a six-month mission to keep the Baltic secure with NATO.

The Royal Navy frigate is spending the bulk of the spring and summer as part of a task group charged with keeping the waters safe and being ready at the drop of a hat to respond to any major incident – anything from disaster relief through to conflict.

Westminster is part of a seven-strong NATO force led by flagship American destroyer USS Gravely with Spanish frigate EPS Almirante Juan de Borbón, Turkish frigate TCG Gokova and her sister ship ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski (both are former US Perry-class warships), Denmark’s support/command/amphibious ship HDMS Absalon, and German tanker FGS Rhön keeping the fuel tanks of all topped up.

Group 1 is one of four task forces directed from NATO’s naval headquarters in Northwood, northwest London, where the Royal Navy’s Vice Admiral Keith Blount took over from Vice Admiral Sir Clive Johnstone just this week.

Continues with images at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... ic-mission

[Pelican]

Frigate to visit Holyhead

THE Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans will visit Holyhead to mark the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service receiving the freedom of Anglesey.

Almost 200 submariners, lead by a Royal Marine band, will march through the town with drums beating, flags flying and bayonets fixed. The parade will be led by a Royal Marine's band. The submariners will march through the town with drums beating, flags flying and bayonets fixed.

The ship which will be berthed opposite the Coastguard Station, will be open to the public on Saturday May 25. between 11.00am and 2.45pm. Access is by tickets which can be obtained from the Evenbright website.

After the parade a memorial service commemorating the loss of the submarine HMS Thetis off North Wales in 1939 will be held at Maeshyfryd Cemetery,Holyhead.

See - http://lewin-of-greenwich-naval-history ... 125&t=1379

[Brian James]

Type 23 Frigates HMS Sutherland (bottom) and HMS Westminster (top). *Note the comparison between the Sea Ceptor equipped Westminster and Sea Wolf equipped Sutherland.

[Pelican]

A guide to the Type 23 Frigate

The Type 23 programme originally arose in the late 1970’s, at the height of the Cold War.
At the time Britain was locked in a pre-apocalyptic arms race with the Soviet Union, and thus all developments across the three services were geared to one thing: World War III.
In few places was this more keenly felt than the navy, for whom this mean open-ocean symmetrical warfare against the Communist forces. To be precise, Anti-Submarine Warfare.
Continues with images of the class at:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/a-guide ... nh90deWVMw