Whitby-class frigate
HMS Tenby, a Whitby-class frigate, in Amsterdam, 1969 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Whitby class |
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Type 11 (never built) |
| Succeeded by | Rothesay class |
| In commission | 10 May 1956 (RN) – 31 August 1992 (IN) |
| Completed | 6 + 2 Indian |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Frigate |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 41 ft (12 m) |
| Draught | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion | Y-100 plant; 2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 English Electric steam turbines, 2 shafts, 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) |
| Speed | 30 kn (56 km/h) |
| Range | 370 tons oil fuel, 4,200 nmi (7,780 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement | 152, later 225 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
The Type 12 or Whitby-class frigates were a six-ship class of anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy, which entered service late in the 1950s. They were designed in the early 1950s as first-rate ocean-going convoy escorts, in the light of experience gained during World War II. At this time, the Royal Navy were designing single-role escorts and the Whitbys were designed as fast convoy escorts capable of tackling high-speed submarines. However, this made the Whitbys more expensive and sophisticated to produce in large numbers in the event of a major war, and so the Type 14 "utility" or "second-rate" anti-submarine frigate was developed to complement the Type 12. Although themselves rapidly outdated, the Type 12 proved to be an excellent basis for a series of frigate designs used by the British and Commonwealth navies for the next 20 years.