Type 42 destroyer

"Type 42" redirects here. For the font format, see PostScript fonts § Type 42.

HMS Birmingham
Class overview
Name	Type 42
Builders	Vickers, Camill-Laird, Swan Hunter, Vosper Thorneycroft, CFNE Argentina
Operators	Royal Navy Argentine Navy
Preceded by	Type 82 (RN) Sumner class/Template:Sclass- (ARA)
Succeeded by	Type 45 (RN) Almirante Brown class (ARA)
Subclasses	Batches 1, 2 and 3
In service	1975
Completed	16
Active	UK - 0 Argentina - 1
Lost	UK 2 (Falklands Conflict) - Argentina 1 (Accidental sinking at berth due to negligence)
Retired	12
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 42 Light Guided Missile Destroyer
Type	Anti Aircraft
Displacement	Batch 1 & 2: 3,500 long tons (3,600 t) standard, 4,100 long tons (4,200 t) or 4,350 tons full load Batch 3: 3,500 long tons (3,600 t) standard, 4,775 long tons (4,852 t) or 5,350 tons full load
Length	Batch 1 & 2: 119.5 m (392 ft) waterline, 125 m (412 ft) or 125.6 m (412 ft) overall Batch 3: 132.3 m (434 feet) waterline, 141.1 m (462.8 ft) overall
Beam	Batch 1 & 2: 14.3 m (47 ft) Batch 3: 14.9 m (49 ft)
Draught	Batch 1, 2 & 3: 4.2 m (13.9 ft) keel, 5.8 m (19 feet) screws
Decks	8
Installed power	50,000 shp
Propulsion	2 shafts COGOG; 2 x Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B high-speed gas turbines, (50,000 shp (37.5 MW)) 2 x Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1C cruise gas turbines, (5,340 shp (6 MW))
Speed	30 knots (2 x Olympus) 24 knots (1 Olympus and 1 Tyne per shaft) 20 knots(1 x Olympus) 18 knots (2 x Tyne) 13.8 knots(1 x Tyne)
Range	4200 nm single Tyne RM1C/other shaft trailing at 13.8 knots
Boats & landing craft carried	2
Complement	Batch 1 & 2: 253 (inc 24 officers) or 274, accommodation for 312 Batch 3: 269 (2013); 301 (inc 26 officers)(1993) Batch 1, 2 & 3: 24 officers and 229 ratings
Crew	UK Royal Navy and Civilian contactor
Time to activate	2 hours from auxiliary state
Sensors and processing systems	Radar Type 1022/965P air surveillance, Radar Type 996/992Q 3-D surveillance, 2× Radar Type 909 GWS-30 fire-control, Radar Type 1007 navigation, Sonar Type 2050 / 2016 search, Sonar Type 162 bottom profiling,
Electronic warfare & decoys	UAA2
Armament	1× Twin launcher for GWS-30 Sea Dart missiles (22 missiles, space was reserved for an additional 15 in Batch 3) 1× 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun 2× 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (not on Argentine ships) 2× Oerlikon / BMARC 20 mm L/70 KBA guns in GAM-B01 single mounts 4× MM38 Exocet anti-ship missile launchers (only on Argentine ships) 2 x Triple anti-submarine torpedo tubes (not on Argentine ships)
Aircraft carried	1× Westland Lynx HAS / HMA Armed with 4× anti ship missiles 2× anti submarine torpedoes
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and enclosed hangar for embarking one helicopter

The Type 42 or Sheffield class, are light guided missile destroyers used by the Royal Navy and the Argentine Navy. The first ship of the class was ordered in 1968 and launched in 1971. Two of the class (Sheffield and Coventry) were sunk in action during the Falklands Conflict of 1982. The UK Royal Navy used this class of destroyer for 38 years between 1975 and 2013.

No ships of this class remain active in the Royal Navy and just one remains in the Argentine Navy. The Royal Navy has replaced them with Type 45 destroyers.

History

The class was designed in the late 1960s to provide fleet area air-defence. In total fourteen vessels were constructed in three batches. In addition to the Royal Navy ships, two more ships were built to the same specifications as the Batch 1 vessels for the Argentine Navy.

Sheffield and Coventry were lost in the Falklands Conflict to enemy action. (This was the first conflict when surface warships of the same design have been on opposite sides since World War II, when four Flower-class corvettes built for France in 1939, were taken over by the Kriegsmarine in 1940). The final ship of the class (Edinburgh) decommissioned on 6 June 2013. One Argentine Navy ship (Hercules) remains in service, the other vessel (Santisima Trinidad) sunk whilst alongside in Puerto Belgrano Naval Base in early 2013.

When the Type 82 air-defence destroyers were cancelled along with the proposed CVA-01 carrier by the Labour Government of 1966, the Type 42 was proposed as a lighter and cheaper design with similar capabilities to the Type 82. The class is fitted with the GWS30 Sea Dart surface-to-air missile first deployed on the sole Type 82, Bristol. The Type 42s were also given a flight deck and hangar to operate an anti-submarine warfare helicopter, greatly increasing their utility compared to the Type 82, which was fitted with a flight deck but no organic aviation facilities.

The design was budgeted with a ceiling of £19 million per hull, but soon ran over-budget. The original proposed design (£21 million) was similar to the lengthened 'Batch 3' Type 42s. To cut costs, the first two batches had 47 feet removed from the bow sections forward of the bridge, and the beam-to-length ratio was proportionally reduced. These early, batch 1 Type 42s performed poorly during the contractor's sea trials particularly in heavy seas, and the hull was extensively examined for other problems. Batch 2 vessels (Exeter onwards) embodied better sensors fits, and slight layout modifications. The ninth hull, Manchester, was lengthened in build, as part of an extensive design review. This proved a better hull form at sea and later hulls were built to this specification, although minor equipment and hull layout changes made the remaining ships all unique in their own way. Strengthening girders were later designed into the weather deck structure in the batch 1 and 2 ships, and the batch 3 ships received an external 'strake' to counter longitudinal cracking.

"Mickey Mouse" ears

The first of class, Sheffield, was initially fitted with the odd-looking "Mickey Mouse" ears on her funnel tops which were in fact exhaust deflectors - "Loxton bends" - for the Rolls Royce Olympus TM1A turbine engines, to guide the high-temperature exhaust efflux sidewards and minimise damage to overhead aerials. As this provided a prominent target for the new infra-red homing missiles, these deflectors were removed during Sheffield's 1979–1980 refit in Portsmouth. All subsequent Olympus and Tyne uptakes were fitted with 'cheese graters' which mixed machinery space vent air with the engine exhaust to reduce infra-red signatures.

Remaining Type 42s

The surviving Argentine Type 42, ARA Hercules, is based at Puerto Belgrano, Argentina and has been converted into an amphibious command ship through the addition of a new aft superstructure and hangar. It is also fitted with Exocet missile launchers. The other Argentine vessel, ARA Santísima Trinidad, capsized and sank alongside her berth at Puerto Belgrano on 22 January 2013, reportedly as a result of poor maintenance and negligence leading to a burst seawater main and catastrophic flooding.

Prior to her demise, Santisima Trinidad was extensively cannibalised for spare parts for her more active sister ship.

Design details

The Type 42 destroyer was built to fill the gap left by the cancellation of the large Type 82 destroyer. It was intended to fulfil the same role, with similar systems on a smaller and more cost effective hull. The ships are primarily carriers for the GWS-30 Sea Dart surface-to-air missile system. Although often described as obsolete, it still proved effective against modern missile threats during the 1991 Gulf War.

The Type 42 is also equipped with a 4.5-inch Mark 8 naval gun and earlier vessels shipped six Ships Torpedo Weapon System (STWS) torpedo launchers. Two Vulcan Phalanx Mk 15 Close-In Weapons Systems (CIWS) were fitted to British Type 42s in way of the carried 27-foot whaler and Cheverton launch after the loss of Sheffield to an Exocet missile. There have been three batches of ships, batch 1 & 2 displacing 4,820 tonnes and batch 3 (sometimes referred to as the Manchester class) displacing 5,200 tonnes. The batch 3 ships were heavily upgraded, though the proposed Sea Wolf missile systems upgrades were never fitted. Because of their more general warfare role, both Argentine ships were been fitted with the MM38 Exocet, and not with a CIWS.

The electronics suite includes one Type 1022 D-band long range radar with Outfit LFB track extractor or one Type 965P long range air surveillance radar, one Type 996 E/F-band 3D target indication radar with Outfit LFA track extractor or type 992Q surface search, two Type 909 I/J-band fire control radars and an Outfit LFD Radar Track Combiner.

All ships were propelled by Rolls Royce TM3B Olympus and Rolls Royce RM1C Tyne marinised gas turbines, arranged in a COGOG (Combined Gas or Gas) arrangement, driving through synchronous self-shifting clutches into a double reduction, dual tandem, articulated, locked-train gear system and out through two five-bladed controllable pitch propellers. All have four Paxman Ventura 16YJCAZ diesel generators, each generating 1 Megawatt of three-phase 440V 60 Hz power.

Availability and use of the Type 42

This class was originally conceived to be a stopper for long-range strategic bombers from the former Soviet air force and as area defence for carrier task groups. As world political climates shifted, so too the role of the Type 42 followed. The class reached its operational zenith during the Falklands Conflict with seven ships partaking in Operation Corporate and the immediate aftermath. The Type 42 provided a capable, if limited, long range reach against Argentine air force assets, confirming three kills. With their weaknesses exposed - Sheffield hit, disabled and sunk by a long-range, first generation air-to surface missile, Coventry sunk by conventional (British designed) iron bombs and Glasgow disabled by a single bomb which passed straight through her aft engine room without exploding - an extensive rethink was conducted and future iterations in and out of build and refit contained better upgrades, but limited by the Type 42s now ageing overall design. Later uses involved Gulf War 1, where Gloucester struck and eliminated a large, land-based surface to surface missile with her Seadart missile system. Moreover than not, Type 42s were called upon to carry out Fleet Contingency Ship (FCS) duties, Atlantic Patrol (North) (West Indies counter drugs ops) and Atlantic Patrol (South) (Falkland Islands patrol), Standing Naval Force Mediterranean and Atlantic and Armilla patrols. There was essentially no task this ship class was not engaged in over its forty year collective career. As far as value-for-money is concerned, notwithstanding its ability to burn fifteen tonnes per hour of marine diesel at top speed and a large, cramped ships' company, this ship provided the UK with considerable ability during a very changeable political, economic and military background of change. The deployment of Type 23s in lieu of Type 42s to high-intensity mission areas became more prevalent as serviceability and reliability issues dogged Type 42s availability as has obsolescence of their combat and machinery system equipment. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) sounded a death knell for these venerable warships and they have all been decommissioned and in most cases scrapped.

Construction programme

Pennant	Name	(a) Hull builder	Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Accepted into service	Commissioned	Estimated building cost
Royal Navy – batch 1
D80	Sheffield	Vickers Shipbuilders Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness.	14 November 1968	15 January 1970	10 June 1971	16 February 1975	16 February 1975	£23,200,000
D86	Birmingham	Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead.	21 May 1971	28 March 1972	30 July 1973	26 November 1976	3 December 1976	£31,000,000
D87	Newcastle	Swan Hunter Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne.	11 November 1971	21 February 1973	24 April 1975	25 February 1978	23 March 1978	£34,600,000
D118	Coventry	Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead.	21 May 1971	29 January 1973	21 June 1974	20 October 1978	10 November 1978	£37,900,000
D88	Glasgow	Swan Hunter Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne.	11 November 1971	16 April 1974	14 April 1976	9 March 1979	24 May 1979	£36,900,000
D108	Cardiff	Vickers Shipbuilders Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness (to launching stage) Swan Hunter Ltd, Hebburn (for completion).	10 June 1971	6 November 1972	22 February 1974	22 September 1979	24 September 1979	£40,500,000
Royal Navy – batch 2
D89	Exeter	Swan Hunter Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne.	22 January 1976	22 July 1976	25 April 1978	30 August 1980	19 September 1980	£60,100,000
D90	Southampton	Vosper Thornycroft Ltd, Woolston.	17 March 1976	21 October 1976	29 January 1979	17 August 1981	31 October 1981	£67,500,000
D92	Liverpool	Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead.	27 May 1977	5 July 1978	25 September 1980	12 May 1982	1 July 1982	£92,800,000
D91	Nottingham	Vosper Thornycroft Ltd, Woolston.	1 March 1977	6 February 1978	18 February 1980	22 December 1982	14 April 1983	£82,100,000
Royal Navy – batch 3
D95	Manchester	Vickers Shipbuilders Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness.	10 November 1978	19 May 1978	24 November 1980	19 November 1982	16 December 1982	£110,000,000
D98	York	Swan Hunter Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne.	25 April 1979	18 January 1980	21 June 1982	25 March 1985	9 August 1985	£118,700,000
D96	Gloucester	Vosper Thornycroft Ltd, Woolston.	27 March 1979	29 October 1979	2 November 1982	16 May 1985	11 September 1985	£120,800,000
D97	Edinburgh	Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead.	25 April 1979	8 September 1980	13 April 1983	25 July 1985	17 December 1985	£130,600,000
Armada Republica Argentina – batch 1
D1	Hércules	Vickers Shipbuilders Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness.	18 May 1970	16 June 1971	24 October 1972	10 May 1976	12 July 1976
D2	Santísima Trinidad	AFNE, Rio Santiago, Argentina.	18 May 1970	11 October 1971	9 November 1974		1 July 1981

In May 1982, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Jerry Wiggin) stated that the current replacement cost of a Type 42 destroyer of the Sheffield class was "about £120 million." In July 1984, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (John Lee) stated: "the average cost of the three Type 42 destroyers currently under construction is £117 million at 1983–84 price levels."

Running costs

Not including major refits and upgrades

Date	Running cost	What is included	Citation
1981–82	£10.0 million	Average annual running cost of Type 42s at average 1981–82 prices and including associated aircraft costs but excluding the costs of major refits.
1985–86	£15 million	The average cost of running and maintaining a type 42 destroyer for one year.
1987–88	£7 million	The average annual operating costs, at financial year 1987–88 prices of a type 42 destroyer. These costs include personnel, fuel, spares and so on, and administrative support services, but exclude new construction, capital equipment, and refit-repair costs.
2001–02	£13.0 million	Type 42 destroyer, average annual operating costs, based on historic costs over each full financial year. The figures include manpower, maintenance, fuel, stores and other costs (such as harbour dues), but exclude depreciation and cost of capital.
2002–03	£13.5 million

Including refits and upgrades

Date	Running cost	What is included	Citation
2007–08	£31.35 million	"The annual operating cost of the Type 42 Class of Destroyers, covering a total of eight vessels in the 07/08 period, is £250.8M." "This is based on information primarily from Financial Year 07/08 the last year for which this information is available, and includes typical day-to-day costs such as fuel and manpower and general support costs covering maintenance, repair and equipment spares. Costs for equipment spares are also included, although these are based on Financial Year 08/09 information as this is the most recent information available. Costs for weapon system support are not included as they could only be provided at disproportionate cost."
2009–10	£26.7 million	"The average running cost per class... Type 42 is £ 160.1 million. These figures, based on the expenditure incurred by the Ministry of Defence in 2009–10, include maintenance, safety certification, military upgrades, manpower, inventory, satellite communication, fuel costs and depreciation.".

In May 2000, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (John Spellar) stated: "The running costs of each of the Royal Navy's Type 42 destroyers for each of the past five years are contained in the following table. This includes repair and maintenance, manpower, fuel and other costs such as port and harbour dues. Year-on-year variations are largely attributable to refit periods."

Ship	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	Citation
Birmingham	£32.28 million	£16.92 million	£17.38 million	£13.38 million	£10.39 million
Newcastle	£32.60 million	£31.60 million	£18.57 million	£13.90 million	£13.73 million
Glasgow	£14.70 million	£29.47 million	£26.36 million	£13.61 million	£12.65 million
Cardiff	£19.86 million	£41.2 million	£28.86 million	£13.20 million	£17.87 million
Exeter	£19.46 million	£15.72 million	£40.83 million	£12.76 million	£14.48 million
Southampton	£16.53 million	£20.37 million	£17.91 million	£39.09 million	£18.79 million
Nottingham	£18.70 million	£17.24 million	£19.08 million	£13.08 million	£32.74 million
Liverpool	£16.92 million	£20.75 million	£14.59 million	£14.79 million	£14.63 million
Manchester	£17.99 million	£19.40 million	£14.58 million	£12.22 million	£12.69 million
Gloucester	£19.33 million	£19.40 million	£13.89 million	£21.49 million	£15.77 million
York	£20.48 million	£19.79 million	£17.50 million	£11.78 million	£21.88 million
Edinburgh	£35.27 million	£19.29 million	£22.50 million	£13.00 million	£12.28 million

Availability

In February 1998, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Reid said: "Type 42 destroyers achieved approximately 84 to 86 per cent average availability for operational service in each of the last five years. This discounts time spent in planned maintenance."

Fate of ships

Pennant	Name	Home port	Commissioned	Status
Royal Navy
Batch 1
D80	Sheffield	Portsmouth	16 February 1975	Sunk in Falklands War 4 May 1982
D86	Birmingham	Portsmouth	3 December 1976	Decommissioned 31 December 1999	Scrapped October 2000
D88	Glasgow	Portsmouth	25 May 1977	Decommissioned 1 February 2005	Scrapped December 2008
D87	Newcastle	Portsmouth	23 March 1978	Decommissioned 1 February 2005	Scrapped November 2008
D118	Coventry	Portsmouth	20 October 1978	Sunk in Falklands War 25 May 1982
D108	Cardiff	Portsmouth	24 September 1979	Decommissioned 14 July 2005	Scrapped November 2008
Batch 2
D89	Exeter	Portsmouth	18 September 1980	Decommissioned 27 May 2009	Scrapped September 2011
D90	Southampton	Portsmouth	31 October 1981	Decommissioned 12 February 2009	Scrapped October 2011
D92	Liverpool	Portsmouth	9 July 1982	Decommissioned 30 March 2012	Awaiting Disposal
D91	Nottingham	Portsmouth	8 April 1983	Decommissioned 11 February 2010	Scrapped October 2011
Batch 3
D95	Manchester	Portsmouth	16 December 1982	Decommissioned 24 February 2011	Awaiting Disposal
D98	York	Portsmouth	9 August 1985	Decommissioned 27 September 2012	Awaiting Disposal
D96	Gloucester	Portsmouth	11 September 1985	Decommissioned 30 June 2011	Awaiting Disposal
D97	Edinburgh	Portsmouth	17 December 1985	Decommissioned 6 June 2013	Awaiting Disposal
Armada Republica Argentina
B-52	Hércules	Puerto Belgrano	12 July 1976	Active
D2	Santísima Trinidad	Puerto Belgrano	1 July 1981	Decommissioned in 2004. Intended to become a naval museum, but sank, as a result of negligence, off Puerto Belgrano on 22 Jan 2013.	Awaiting Disposal

Replacement

The UK ships are all now decommissioned. By 2007 none of the batch 1 vessels remained in commission. Initially the UK sought to procure replacements first in collaboration with seven other NATO nations under the NFR-90 project and then with France and Italy through the Horizon CNGF programme. However, both these collaborative ventures failed and the UK decided to go it alone with a national project.

The UK Type 42s are succeeded by six Type 45 destroyers. Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon and Defender are in commission and the other Type 45 Duncan is currently Accepted off Contract and due to be in service by November 2013. The Type 42 class has always suffered from cramped accommodation, a problem for crew safety and comfort, and also when finding space for upgrades. The Type 45s are considerably larger, displacing 7,500 tonnes, compared to the Type 42 displacement of 3,600 tonnes.

External links

• Royal Navy Type 42 destroyers website

See also

Media related to Type 42 destroyers at Wikimedia Commons