MBY tested a Royal Navy frigate!

[Jack Haines]

In August we spent a night and a day on the Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland.

We have written a full boat (ship?) report and it is in the January issue of MBY, which hit the shelves next Thursday. We wanted to give you a bit of a heads up about the feature and share with you a few behind the scenes snaps from the day and a quick taster video we put together.

Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.602870093089145.1073741881.200367926672699&type=3

Video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151610719931700&set=vb.200367926672699&type=3&theater

The full video of the day is being edited as I type and will go live when the issue's out next week.

Hope you enjoy it.

Jack

 

[Nigelpickin]

How long until DAKA photoshops a raggie causing havoc into the shot and re-posts?

 

[jfm]

Good going Jack - look forward to reading
Yours and Hugo's stateroom wasn't as nice as you usually get, but no worries!
What's the gag with these fast warships leaning outwards on fast corners? Do they not have any stabilisation?

 

[stillwaters]

Looks like just the thing that I've been looking for but,do you know if it can be customised? Maybe a much bigger gun facing forward for when any raggies decide to cut across the bow in a buoyed channel at the last moment and perhaps some rather more serious camouflage so they don't realise what it is until it's too late! I have heard,though,that future orders will have to be built abroad,either Korea or Scotland,I believe. Might therefore be worth waiting another 2-3 years until the next government flog it off on the cheap,I guess.

 

[superheat6k]

They do have stabilisers on the bilge plates along the turn of the bilge, but their primary function is to provide a stable weapons platform, rather than creature comforts. Therefore they will reduce the lean, but not eliminate it. They also carry quite a bit of top weight, so at above 20 knots the outward leaning force is quite severe.

The stabilisers I was familiar with on the older T42 & T22 were controlled from the engine control room, and rarely were the standard roll rate settings requested to be adjusted by the Bridge watch. I suspect that many Navigators didn't realise they could adjust the settings.

They do have a forced roll setting, and that can produce a spectacular induced roll in a flat sea, but we used to get 'advised' not to keep it on too long during long boring middle and morning watches (in case we tipped the Engineer out of his rack !). Its primary purpose was to allow pre wet spray to thoroughly wash over and off the decks in chemical or biological warfare conditions.

All these modern warships are impressive when accelerating from standstill to max ahead speed.