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Type 23 Frigate




The Type 23 Frigate is a class of warship serving with the Royal Navy , also known as the ''Duke'' class. Sixteen have been built, with the final vessel, HMS ''St Albans'' (F83) launched in May 2000. These ships currently comprise around half of the entire surface escort fleet of the Royal Navy.

The Type 23 was initially conceived as a cheap and simple (Combined Diesel-electric and Gas) propulsion system providing very quiet running for ASW operations and an excellent range, and - after a false start - a fully-distributed combat management system. As a result they have proven to be excellent ships, despite the fact that the highly specialised role for which they were intended disappeared just as the first examples were entering service.

HMS ''Norfolk'' (F230) was the first of the class to enter service, commissioned into the Fleet on June 1, 1990 at a cost of £135.449 million. Later vessels cost £60-96 million. The annual costs of running a Type 23 is around £16 million.

On July 21 2004, in a review of defence spending, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced HMS ''Norfolk'', HMS ''Marlborough'' (F233) and HMS ''Grafton'' (F80) were to be paid off. In 2005 it was announced that the three vessels would be sold to the Chilean Navy , to be delivered in 2008 . In September 2005 BAE Systems was awarded a £134 million contract to prepare the frigates for transfer.


SPECIFICATIONS


:Length: 133m (436.2ft)
:Beam: 16.1m (52.8ft)
:Displacement: 4,900 tonnes fl
:Crew: 185
: Power: CODLAG (Combined Diesel-electric and Gas). Two Rolls-Royce Spey 34,000hp (25MW) gas turbines; two Alstom 1.5MW electric motors.
:Speed: 28kts (52km/h) maximum. 12,500km at 15kts (28km/h)
:Weapons:




SHIPS


Fictional Type 23 frigates

  • HMS ''Westminster'' was used for the Type 23 interior shots in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies in three different roles as HMS ''Chester'', HMS ''Devonshire'' and HMS ''Bedford''. For the exterior shots a Type 23 model was constructed.

  • The ITV series Making Waves was set aboard the Type 23 frigate HMS ''Suffolk'' (which was portrayed by HMS ''Grafton'').