Tartar Departing
Seen in the Mediterranean, operating with HMS Intrepid. I spent much of a day aboard her, including a stint as loader in the after 4.5-in gun mount during a target shoot.
The Type 81 Tribals were designed during the 1950s as a response to the increasing cost of single-role vessels such as the Type 14s. They were first such 'multi-role' vessels for the Royal Navy and were designed specifically with colonial 'gunboat' duties in mind, particularly in the Middle East. They were thus designed to be self-contained, with weapon and sensor systems to cover many possible engagements, air-conditioning to allow extended tropical deployment and such modern habitability features as all bunk accommodation (as opposed to hammocks).
They were the first RN class designed from the start to operate a helicopter and the first small escorts to carry a long-range air search radar, the Type 965. They were armed with two 4.5-inch Mk 5 main guns salvaged from scrapped WWII destroyers. Although these mountings were refurbished with Remote Power Control (RPC) operation, they still required manual loading on an exposed mount. From the outset the class were designed to carry the new GWS-20 Sea Cat SAM.
The Tribals were the first modern RN ships designed to use a combination of power sources, a feature which had been trialled with limited success in the 1930s in the minelayer HMS Adventure. An additive mix of steam and gas turbine called "COmbined Steam and Gas" COSAG was used. This gave the rapid start-up and acceleration of a gas turbine engine coupled with the cruising efficiency and reliability of the steam turbine. They would cruise on the steam plant and use both systems driving the same shaft for a high-speed "boost". They suffered however from being single-shaft vessels which severely limited manoeuvrability, acceleration and deceleration.
The class served throughout the 1960s and '70s, into the 1980s fulfilling their designed general-purpose "colonial gunboat" role. When change in British foreign policy made this role redundant they found themselves being pressed into service in home waters in the "Cod Wars" of the 1970s. They were not particularly suited to these duties however, as they had a hull form optimised for the calm, shallow water of the Persian Gulf and with only a single shaft were unable to manoeuvre with the Icelandic gunboats at close quarters.
An improved version of a very old post.
Tartar Departing
Seen in the Mediterranean, operating with HMS Intrepid. I spent much of a day aboard her, including a stint as loader in the after 4.5-in gun mount during a target shoot.
The Type 81 Tribals were designed during the 1950s as a response to the increasing cost of single-role vessels such as the Type 14s. They were first such 'multi-role' vessels for the Royal Navy and were designed specifically with colonial 'gunboat' duties in mind, particularly in the Middle East. They were thus designed to be self-contained, with weapon and sensor systems to cover many possible engagements, air-conditioning to allow extended tropical deployment and such modern habitability features as all bunk accommodation (as opposed to hammocks).
They were the first RN class designed from the start to operate a helicopter and the first small escorts to carry a long-range air search radar, the Type 965. They were armed with two 4.5-inch Mk 5 main guns salvaged from scrapped WWII destroyers. Although these mountings were refurbished with Remote Power Control (RPC) operation, they still required manual loading on an exposed mount. From the outset the class were designed to carry the new GWS-20 Sea Cat SAM.
The Tribals were the first modern RN ships designed to use a combination of power sources, a feature which had been trialled with limited success in the 1930s in the minelayer HMS Adventure. An additive mix of steam and gas turbine called "COmbined Steam and Gas" COSAG was used. This gave the rapid start-up and acceleration of a gas turbine engine coupled with the cruising efficiency and reliability of the steam turbine. They would cruise on the steam plant and use both systems driving the same shaft for a high-speed "boost". They suffered however from being single-shaft vessels which severely limited manoeuvrability, acceleration and deceleration.
The class served throughout the 1960s and '70s, into the 1980s fulfilling their designed general-purpose "colonial gunboat" role. When change in British foreign policy made this role redundant they found themselves being pressed into service in home waters in the "Cod Wars" of the 1970s. They were not particularly suited to these duties however, as they had a hull form optimised for the calm, shallow water of the Persian Gulf and with only a single shaft were unable to manoeuvre with the Icelandic gunboats at close quarters.
An improved version of a very old post.