The Type 26 frigate programme achieved another milestone last week with two ships now in the fitting out phase. HMS Cardiff joined the first class, HMS Glasgow in dry dock at Scotstoun.
After HMS Cardiff was rolled off the hardstanding at Govan, she was towed to Glan Mallan on 30th August and fully floated off on 5th September. The barge sinks slowly allowing the ship to gently rise off the cradles, giving engineers time to check watertight integrity and adjust the distribution of ballast water if required.
BAE Systems has confirmed that the Type 26 programme schedule will pick up its pace from first-of-class HMS Glasgow taking 96 months, reducing to 60 months for ship 8, HMS London (time from first steel cut to ship handover). The interval between laying down each new ship will also reduce from 18 months to 12 months as the batch II programme progresses.
A Type frigate has over 800 separate compartments that must be completed. When the ships arrive to be fitted out, the propulsion system, some large items of equipment and much of the pipework are in place but nothing is connected up. Hundreds of miles of electrical and optic fibre cabling have to be strung throughout the ship then many thousands of items have to be installed and aligned. Weapons and sensors have to be fitted and integrated with the ship’s systems. While in dry dock the propellors, shafts and bow sonar are fitted. The ship has to be painted inside and out and made habitable with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) installed along with furnishing the accommodation areas and fitting out the galleys.
All this has to be done in the correct sequence and there is a major logistics task job to manage the delivery of thousands of parts for the ship from 3rd party suppliers. Different skilled trades working on the ship have to be on-site at the right time and right numbers to ensure they do not conflict with other work going on in compartments with restricted space.
Recent images show the foredeck of HMS Glasgow being prepared to receive the 4 x 6-cell Sea Ceptor VLS modules and the 3 x 8-cell Mk41 VLS modules. (Another 24 Sea Ceptor cells will be fitted behind the funnel.)
She has also now been fitted with the Mk45 Mod 4A 127mm Medium Calibre Gun mount – the first RN vessel to carry this weapon. The Gun will have a fully automated ammunition handling system (AHS) fitted in the magazine, capable of sustained fire while operated by just one sailor. This weapon is made by BAE Systems in the US and is already in service with 280 warships in 11 navies including the USN and several other NATO allies, together with Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Generally good news and it is nice to see two new vessels at the fit out stage. Should be morale boosting for those in the service having to keep over worked hulls going.
However BAE could have built these faster, but were instructed not to by the MoD and Treasury. Instead of wasting billions on the T23 LIFEXs wouldn’t it have been more prudent to get the T26s in service as quickly as possible?
Remember when we lost T45 hulls 7 & 8 to expedite the T26 programme, only to have 5 T26s become T31s and then have a slow drawn out build process?
The government, MoD and Treasury are a perfect storm to f#*k up defence procurement.
T23s are falling apart as is. Without the Lifexs we’d probably end up with less frigates than we have destroyers for a period of time.
When London is passing through the yard, what will follow?
T83
I wonder what happens if Norway orders 6 as rumoured? Does BAe increase the build tempo of do the RN end up losing build slots for an export customer?
With the 5 Nansens the first was laid down in 2003 and the last commissioned in 2011. Can the UK ramp up to build Type 26’s at a similar pace?
I suspect a bit of both but predominantly the second. A longer T26 build will better fit with the realistic start of T45 replacement (probably T83). Given the extensive upgrades the T45’s are getting I don’t see them serving for less than 30 years. That would see the first of them leaving service in the late 2040’s.
HMS Cardiff already looking like it’s been on deployment for a while, guess that’s the downside of them being joined together outside.
More because they don’t get a full coat of “paint” until they are nearly finished and all the cutting and other hot work is done.
Glasgow is the one in the foreground.
Can anyone tell enough from the pictures to know the missile block layout? This article talks about Sea Ceptor in 4 blocks of 6, which was how the artists’ renderings showed them two or three years ago. However, speculation, possibly prompted by the description of the T26 on the RN’s website, has suggested that the 24 CAMM missiles, front and back, would be implemented in two blocks of 3 ExLS quad-packed.
Are the structures at the bottom of the gangway stairs VLS, and if so what type?
Overall Build Time For HMS Cardiff
All
Being a tiny weeny bit bored today = I suddenly thought would be an “very interesting exercise” to compare the overall ship-building durations for the two big ships that are shown here, in these truely excellent photos,on Navy Lookout….:
So, here goes:
However, being a VLB (note 1) and also because it is the weekend, I have simply not bothered to count up how many individual compartments there are inside the much larger ship…….however I believe that the Cunarder has many more than the 800 compartments (quoted by the editor) for HMS Cardiff……….and furthermore I believe (however, I cannot afford to take a cruise on the Cunarder), that all of those compartments are fitted out to a much higher quality standard than the compartments found inside the much-smaller Grey Funnel Cruise Liners ship….
Overall durations; starting from keel-laying to final completion:
HMS Cardiff
Cunarder QM2.
So, WHY does it take BAe so ble*****g long to build a T26?
Can I please ask that all “excuse notes” be sent, either electronically or on a postcard (note 2), directly to the editor of Navy Lookout.
regards Peter (Irate Taxpayer)
Note 1
Note 2.
With thanks.
Many thanks are due to the very useful website “Chris’s Cunard Page”:
QM2 History – Chris Frame’s Cunard Page: Cunard Line History, Facts, News (chriscunard.com)
Thank you very much for a much more elaborate version of my brief comment below.
Having been lucky enough to cruise on the QM2, I can confirm that the passenger cabins are fitted out to a much higher quality standard than the Grey Funnel, What’s more, there are 1,360 of them, and you can at least double that figure for crew quarters, public spaces, storage, etc, to get to a total number of compartments.
Being the only ocean liner in service, QM2 is a better comparator than a standard cruise ship for the poor performance of our military procurement. For example, has IEP which works with none of the issues faced by the Type 45 destroyers.
What one can say about cruise ships in general is that:-
That’s the difference between private sector efficiency and government incompetence.
Julian
I totally agree = especially with your excellent summary (last line)
regards Peter (Irate Taxpayer)
PS I must go now: I am trying to accumulate enough pound coins, collected from behind my old sofa, to afford a “proper cruise”
They look like air con fan units similar to what we have in buildings with a/c.
Great picture of the Queen Mary. Which cost about the same to build as a T26, despite being 10 times the size.