RN Frigates: Type 23 Duke Class

[Pelican]

SOTV is as popular today as it’s ever been in the Royal Navy, Video is 4 hours after the gates opened.
Incredible numbers.
https://twitter.com/davidclaridge16/sta ... 0812948610

[Pelican]

HMS Northumberland
Thank you Tyneside!
After a fantastic weekend alongside, spent with regional affiliations, local civic groups and - incredibly - over 2500 members of the public who queued to visit us on Saturday, we have now sailed and resumed our maritime security operations around the UK
See for her other Tweets and photos of the visit - https://twitter.com/HMSNORT

[Pelican]

HMS Northumberland
Thank you Tyneside!
After a fantastic weekend alongside, spent with regional affiliations, local civic groups and - incredibly - over 2500 members of the public who queued to visit us on Saturday, we have now sailed and resumed our maritime security operations around the UK
See for her other Tweets and photos of the visit - https://twitter.com/HMSNORT

Royal Navy

Busier than St James' Park... The people of Tyneside packed aboard 'their' ship as HMS Northumberland paid her final visit before undergoing a spot of maintenance in her native Devonport.
2,500 visitors looked around the Type 23, which was built on the Tyne at the Swan Hunter yard in the early 90s.
The ship stayed open an hour later than planned to accommodate visitors - and crew still found they had to turn folk away, sadly (2,500 visitors is what most ships receive over three days, not one...).
During a ‘phenomenal’ few days in North Shields, the frigate hosted affiliates (Sea Cadets, Reserves, URNU, Marine police, RNLI, veterans, RAF and Army), played football and rugby with local sides (including a narrow 29-15 defeat to Gateshead RUFC), enjoyed tours of Newcastle United's home ground, received free tickets to watch Sunderland AFC at the Stadium of Light, and scrambled over the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall.

[Pelican]

Sir Humphrey
A brilliant read on the forgotten plans to get the US Navy to operate WW2 era destroyers late into the 1980s, and the challenges of supporting very old warships decades after planned retirement - parables for the Type 23 force now perhaps?
https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/202 ... estroyers/

[ivorthediver]

Very interesting post David , thank you .....

[jbryce1437]

Sir Humphrey
A brilliant read on the forgotten plans to get the US Navy to operate WW2 era destroyers late into the 1980s, and the challenges of supporting very old warships decades after planned retirement - parables for the Type 23 force now perhaps?
https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/202 ... estroyers/

We had similar problems on Ark Royal with regard to spares in the 1960s. Ark was powered by 220v Direct Current and most of the newer ships had equipment using Alternating Current. Our problem was largely overcome by raiding ships in the reserve fleet and we "rabbited" whole motors and fan units, which were then stored in our store rooms. On the way back from the Far East, in 1966, a Long Refit was on the cards and she was due to be converted to wholly Alternating Current supplies and equipment. Consequently, all of the 229v DC gear that we were holding in our store rooms was given a float test in the Meditteranean Sea on the way back to the UK, to save de-storing it in the dockyard. Consequently, the conversion to AC, during the 1967/70 refit didn't happen and she was left as a 220v DC ship and HMS Eagle was then kept up the trot and used as a Ready Use Store for equipment.

Jim

[Pelican]

Look back in Angus at HMS Montrose’s career through new museum display

Residents of the Scottish coastal town of Montrose have a permanent reminder of their naval links.

The arrival of the bell from HMS Montrose, the veteran Type 23 frigate, completes the memorial display to the ship in her namesake community.

Throughout her 30-year operational career, the Devonport ship maintained regular contact with her namesake town and the wider Angus community, calling in on the small east coast port whenever her programme allowed.

Some 5,000 local residents filed aboard the ship on the frigate’s farewell visit in March last year.

Since then the ship has been decommissioned, stripped of what might be re-used elsewhere in the Fleet, especially the Type 23 flotilla, while objects of no military but of tremendous sentimental value were offered to the ship’s company and those connected with HMS Montrose down the years.

No object is more iconic on any ship than her bell – it’s the items divers seek to recover from wrecks to prevent them falling into the hands of unscrupulous souvenir hunters.

Thankfully no such threat was posed in this case: it just took a request from RN veteran David Moxey via Angus MP David Doogan … and the RN agreed to loan the bell as centrepiece of an exhibition which also features frigate’s nameplate, White Ensign and a scale model of F236.

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

[Pelican]

End in sight for the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate LIFEX programme

Here we provide an update on the complex support programme that is being undertaken to keep the Type 23 frigates in service.

The programme of life extension refits to upgrade and repair the ageing Type 23 frigates to serve beyond their 30th birthdays is almost complete. The last ship to undergo this process, HMS Sutherland is still in the Frigate Support Centre (FSC) shed at Devonport but will undock in late February and should be ready to be handed back to the RN in June.

Each frigate undergoing life extension (LIFEX) refit has a hull survey and repairs, the Sea Wolf missile system replaced with Sea Ceptor, new Artisan radar (if not already fitted) and a wide range of other upgrades and refurbishments. While delivering an important capability boost, the work has mostly taken longer than expected and the work on each vessel has often been a unique project. As each ship was stripped down and surveyed, different levels of hull corrosion, structural problems and equipment deterioration were revealed. This partly explains why the time taken for each ship has varied significantly between vessels.

Continues at - https://www.navylookout.com/end-in-sigh ... programme/

[Pelican]

UK frigate HMS Sutherland needed 600 structural inserts in drydock

The ageing Type 23 frigates are being kept operational far beyond their expected service life to limit the reduction in overall fleet numbers.

See - https://www.naval-technology.com/news/u ... k/?cf-view - LFT

[Pelican]

Frigate HMS St Albans returns to sea after massive revamp in Plymouth

Back at sea for the first time in four and a half years is HMS St Albans – the penultimate Royal Navy frigate to undergo a massive overhaul.

See - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... bans-sails