Blackwood class frigate

HMS Exmouth (1972) - following conversion to Gas Turbine propulsion
Class overview
Name:	Type 14 or Blackwood class
Builders:	Swan Hunter, Wallsend Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun John I. Thornycroft & Co., Woolston Alexander Stephen and Sons, Govan J. Samuel White, Cowes
Operators:	Royal Navy  Indian Navy
In service:	1955 (RN) – 1985 (RN)
Completed:	15
Lost:	1 (+1 as target)
General characteristics
Type:	Anti-submarine frigate
Displacement:	1,456 long tons (1,479 t) full load
Length:	310 ft (94.5 m)
Beam:	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught:	15 ft (4.6 m)
Installed power:	2 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 15,000 shp (11 MW)
Propulsion:	1 shaft; 1 steam turbine set Exmouth, from 1966: COGOG, 1 × Rolls-Royce Olympus boost and 2 × Rolls-Royce Proteus cruise gas turbines.
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range:	5,200 nmi (9,600 km; 6,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	112
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar Type 974 navigation Sonar Type 174 search Sonar Type 162 target classification Sonar Type 170 targeting
Armament:	3 × 40 mm Bofors gun Mark 7 (quarterdeck mount later removed) 2 × Limbo Mark 10 anti-submarine mortars 2 × twin 21-inch (533 mm) deck-mounted tubes for anti-submarine homing torpedoes (Blackwood, Exmouth, Malcolm and Palliser only, later removed)

The Type 14 Blackwood class were a ship class of minimal "second-rate" anti-submarine warfare frigates. Built for the Royal Navy during the 1950s at a time of increasing threat from the Soviet Union's submarine fleet, they served until the late 1970s. Twelve ships of this class served with the royal Navy and a further three were built for the Indian Navy.

The Type 14 frigates were designed to be cheaper and smaller than the expensive Type 12 frigates. Although they lacked gun armament, their anti-submarine armament of two Limbo mortars, Mk 20 torpedoes and sonar fit equalled the larger Type 12, and as the crews of the Type 14 concentrated almost entirely on practising anti-submarine warfare, they were often the most effective frigates in anti-submarine exercises until the mid 1960s. The class were entirely specialised for the anti-submarine role and hence had little capability in any other role, though they did perform fishery protection duties during the confrontations with Iceland over fishing rights.

In the late 1950s, during their time on patrols around Iceland to ensure that Iceland did not interfere with British fishermen's attempts to fish, problems were found with the hulls of the Type 14s in such heavy waters, so that their hulls had to be strengthened to cope with these patrols. However, they proved to be good seaboats throughout the dispute, which continued into the mid-1970s. The low profile of the superstructure was a deliberate design feature to confuse enemy attackers. The Type 14 design was flawed by the lack of a gun, and also by a general lack of space. After experience with these frigates, the Admiralty decided to ensure that quality was the top priority of all ships, even though it meant having a smaller fleet.

One of the ships, Exmouth, was later converted 1966-1968 to act as experimental trials vessel for gas turbine propulsion, becoming the first major warship of the Royal Navy to be entirely powered by gas turbines. In this configuration she was easily distinguishable from other members of the class due to her larger (non-cylindrical, streamlined) funnel and large air intakes sited immediately fore and aft of the funnel. The success of these trials led to the adoption of all-gas turbine propulsion as standard on subsequent Royal Navy warship designs (Type 21 & 22 Frigates, Type 42 destroyers, 'Invincible' class carriers).