The Type 14 ''Blackwood'' class were a

ship class A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, is a nuclear aircraft carrier (ship type) of the (ship class). In the course o ...

of minimal "second-rate"

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

frigates. Built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

during the 1950s at a time of increasing threat from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

'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.Marriott,Leo, 'Royal Navy Frigates Since 1945', Second Edition, , Published by Ian Allan Ltd (Surrey, UK), 1990Purvis,M.K., 'Post War RN Frigate and Guided Missile Destroyer Design 1944–1969', Transactions, Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), 1974

Design

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, 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 Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

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 sea boats 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 general lack of space. After experience with these frigates, the Admiralty decided 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 A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

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).

Service

The Type 14s' limited size, at just , restricted them from operating past the 1970s as anti-submarine ships. Their small hull limited the extent of modifications and upgrades possible, preventing the Type 14s from being armed with more effective weapons, effectively rendering them obsolete. All were decommissioned in the 1970s. The last operational were the gas powered ''Exmouth'' in 1977 and ''Hardy'' which attended the

Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the Silver jubilee, 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth ...

in 1977 and deployed again from the standby squadron in 1978.

In film

The 1960

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010), was an English actor, comedian, musician, and singer, best known for his series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966, in which he portrayed the endearingly inept charact ...

film '' The Bulldog Breed'' was made in

Portland harbour Portland Harbour is beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains ...

with co-operation from the

, and features several of the ''Blackwood''-class frigates. An early scene shows a flotilla of Type 14s led by . The 1958 British comedy "Further Up The Creek" features the fictional HMS ''Aristotle'', a type 14 frigate. HMS Pellew (F62) appeared in 1961 British monster movie "Gorgo". HMS ''Dundas'' appeared in the

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' att ...

film '' The Little Hut'' in 1957.

Ships

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy ships were all named after British captains. Many had been in the Napoleonic wars and some were present at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. * –

Henry Blackwood Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet (28 December 1770 – 13 December 1832), whose burial site and memorial are in Killyleagh Parish Church, was an Irish officer of the British Royal Navy. Early life Blackwood was the fourth son of ...

* – Adam Duncan * –

James Whitley Deans Dundas Admiral Sir James Whitley Deans Dundas, GCB (4 December 1785 – 3 October 1862) was a Royal Navy officer. He took part in the Napoleonic Wars, first as a junior officer when he took part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in Autumn 1799 ...

* –

Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, Order of the Bath, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary W ...

* –

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. A military commander, Henry FitzRoy was appointed colonel of the Grenadier Guar ...

* –

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

* – Augustus Keppel * – Pulteney Malcolm * – George Murray * –

Hugh Palliser Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet (26 February 1723 – 19 March 1796) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As captain of the 58-gun HMS ''Eagle'' he engaged and defeated the French 50-gun ''Duc d'Aquitain'' off Ushant in May 1757 du ...

* – Israel Pellew * – Thomas McNamara Russell

Indian Navy

Three ships were built for the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

in the late 1950s * , sunk by the Pakistani submarine PNS ''Hangor'' on 8 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 * *

Construction programme

Footnotes

Publications

* Purvis, M.K., 'Post War RN Frigate and Guided Missile Destroyer Design 1944–1969', Transactions, Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), 1974 * Marriott, Leo, 'Royal Navy Frigates Since 1945', Second Edition, , Published by Ian Allan Ltd (Surrey, UK), 1990 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwood Class Frigate Frigate classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy