The Type system is a classification system used by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

to classify surface escorts by function. The system evolved in the early 1950s, when the Royal Navy was experimenting with building single-purpose escort vessels with specific roles in light of experience gained in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The original (July 1950) numbering scheme was: Type 1X were Anti-Submarine (ASW)

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s (when the numbers ran out in the 1960s, ASW frigates continued as the Type 2X series). Type 3X were General-Purpose (GP) frigates (Chosen 2015)
Type 4X were Anti-Aircraft (AAW) frigates (this later evolved into the "Destroyer" Type series).
Type 6X were Aircraft-Direction (ADW) frigates.
Type 8X were multi-role ships. An Admiralty Fleet Order defined these ships as "

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s" if they could achieve "fleet speed" or as " sloops" if they could not.

Types 11-30, anti-submarine frigates

* Type 11 : Diesel powered anti-submarine

based on hull of Type 41 / 61. Not built. * Type 12 ''

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

'' -class :

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

powered, high-speed "

first-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least ...

" anti-submarine

. * Type 12M '' Rothesay-''

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

: Modified Type 12 design. * Type 12I '' Leander'' : Improved Type 12, general purpose frigate. Also produced as the , , and for other navies * Type 14 '' Blackwood'' : Steam powered, high-speed, "

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

" anti-submarine frigate. * Type 15 : High-speed anti submarine frigate, produced by full conversion of wartime built destroyers of the R-, T-, U- and V- and W and Z-classes. * Type 16 : High-speed anti submarine frigate, produced by a limited conversion of wartime T-class (7 ships), O- and P-class (3) destroyers. * Type 17 : "Third-rate" anti-submarine frigate, analogous to wartime

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s. Design abandoned in 1953 and not built. * Type 18 : High-speed anti submarine frigate, intermediate conversion of wartime

hulls of the N-, S-, T and Z- classes (and intended to replace the Type 16). Design abandoned in 1953 and not built. * Type 19 : Very high speed (42

knot A knot is an intentional complication in Rope, cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including List of hitch knots, hitches, List of bend knots, bends, List of loop knots, loop knots, ...

)

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 ...

powered anti-submarine frigate. Design abandoned in 1965. Not built. * Type 21 ''Amazon''-class: General purpose, gas-turbine powered commercially designed frigate. * Type 22 ''Broadsword''-class : Large, gas-turbine powered, anti-submarine frigates. * Type 23 ''Duke''-class : Gas-turbine and diesel powered, anti-submarine frigates. Smaller and less expensive than the Type 22, with similar capabilities. 16 built. * Type 24 : Cheap frigate design ("Future Light Frigate") intended for export. In RN service would have served as a towed array ASW ship. Not built. * Type 25 : More capable development of the Type 24, designed to have almost the capability of a Type 22 but at only three-quarters of the cost. Much of the thinking, including the diesel-electric machinery, went into the Type 23. Not built. * Type 26 : "Global Combat Ship" : First announced in March 2010, and formerly known as the Future Surface Combatant. Initial orders placed in February 2014.

Types 31-40, general purpose frigates

* Type 31 : The

Type 31 frigate The Type 31 frigate, also known as the Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a class of five frigates being built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, with variants also being built ...

is the proposed General Purpose frigate as set out in the

Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 was published by the British government during the second Cameron ministry on 23 November 2015 to outline the United Kingdom's defence strategy up to 2025. It identified ...

. * Type 32 : The Type 32 frigate was mentioned in November 2020 as a future frigate.

Types 41-60, anti-aircraft frigates/destroyers

* Type 41 ''

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

''-class frigate : Diesel powered anti-aircraft frigate built on common hull with Type 61. * Type 42(''i'') ''East coast frigate'' : High speed coastal escort. Not built *

Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and ...

(''ii'') ''Sheffield''-class : Gas-turbine powered, fleet area-defence anti-aircraft destroyer. *

Type 43 destroyer The Type 43 was a proposed destroyer class for the Royal Navy. It was intended to follow on from the Type 42 but armed with the Sea Dart Mark II missile. The primary role of the Type 43 was to protect a task force from air-launched missile att ...

: Large gas-turbine powered, "double-ended" (Sea Dart launchers fore and aft), fleet area-defence anti-aircraft destroyer. Project cancelled in 1981 with none built. * Type 44 destroyer : A smaller version of the Type 43 with better anti-submarine capability. Cancelled. *

Type 45 destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...

''Daring''-class : Fleet area-defence anti-aircraft destroyer to replace Type 44 project. 6 built.

Types 61-80, aircraft direction frigates

* Type 61 ''

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

'' -class : Diesel powered aircraft-direction frigate built on common hull with Type 41. * Type 62 : Proposed high-speed aircraft-direction frigate, to be built by full conversion of five remaining ships of the M-class destroyers and seven War Emergency Programme destroyers. Not built.

Types 81-99, general purpose frigates/destroyers/sloops

* Type 81 ''

Tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

'' -class frigate : Single-shaft steam / gas-turbine powered general purpose "colonial" frigates. Originally sloops reclassified as "second class" general-purpose frigates in 1960s. * Type 82 destroyer : Large steam / gas-turbine powered fleet anti-aircraft and anti-submarine destroyer to replace County-class destroyers and escort

CVA-01 CVA-01 was a proposed United Kingdom aircraft carrier, designed during the 1960s. The ship was intended to be the first of a class that would replace all of the Royal Navy's carriers, most of which had been designed before or during the Second ...

aircraft carriers. Cancelled along with carriers. Only HMS ''Bristo''l (D23) was built of the four planned. * Type 83: proposed in the 2021 Defence Command Paper as the successor to the

Type 45 Destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...

entering service in the late 2030s. * Type 91 Arsenal Ship : An Arsenal Ship planned to complement the firepower of the Type 83. * Type 92 Sloop : An ASW uncrewed surface vessel planned under Project Chariot * Type 93 Chariot : An extra large UUV

Notes

References

* * *{{cite web, title= British Frigate Types , first=Tony , last=DiGiulian , date= 10 October 2014 , url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-106.htm , access-date= 4 March 2015 Ship naming conventions