HMS Eastbourne (F73)

HMS Eastbourne was a Whitby-class or Type 12 anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Eastbourne.

HMS Eastbourne in May 1969
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Eastbourne
Ordered:	6 March 1951
Builder:	Vickers Armstrongs, Newcastle-on-Tyne (completed at Barrow)
Laid down:	13 January 1954
Launched:	29 December 1955
Commissioned:	9 January 1958
Decommissioned:	1984
Reclassified:	Training ship in 1971
Identification:	Pennant number: F73
Fate:	Sold for scrapping in 1985
General characteristics
Class and type:	Whitby-class frigate
Displacement:	2,150 tons (2,185 tonnes) 2,560 tons full load (2,600 tonnes)
Length:	360 ft (109.7 m) w/l 370 ft (112.8 m) o/a
Beam:	41 ft (12.5 m)
Draught:	17 ft (5.18 m)
Propulsion:	Y-100 plant; 2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 English Electric steam turbines, 2 shafts, 30,000 shp (22 MW)
Speed:	30 kn (56 km/h)
Range:	370 tons oil fuel, 4,200 nmi (7,780 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:	152, later 225
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar Type 293Q target indication. Radar Type 277Q height finding (later removed) Radar Type 275 fire control on director Mark 6M Radar Type 262 fire control on STAAG Radar Type 974 navigation Type 1010 Cossor Mark 10 IFF Sonar Type 174 search Sonar Type 162 target classification Sonar Type 170 attack
Armament:	1 × twin 4.5 in (114 mm) gun Mark 6 1 × twin 40 mm Bofors gun Mark 2 STAAG, later; 1 × single 40 mm Bofors gun Mark 7 2 × Limbo A/S mortar Mark 10 12 × 21 in A/S torpedo tubes (removed or never shipped)

Design

The Whitbys were designed as specialist anti-submarine warships, intended to counter fast modern diesel-electric submarines. As such, the design was required to reach a speed of at least 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h), maintaining high speed in rough weather conditions and have a range of 4,500 nautical miles (5,200 mi; 8,300 km) at 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h). To meet these requirements, the Type 12s had a new hull form and, unlike the contemporary Type 41 anti-aircraft and Type 61 air direction frigates, were powered by steam turbines.[1][2]

Eastbourne was 370 feet 0 inches (112.78 m) long overall and 360 feet 0 inches (109.73 m) at the waterline, with a beam of 41 feet 0 inches (12.50 m) and a draught of 11 feet 0 inches (3.35 m) forward and 13 feet 0 inches (3.96 m) at the propellers.[3] The ships were powered by the new Y-100 machinery in which the ship's boilers and steam turbines were designed as a closely integrated set of machinery to increase efficiency. Two Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers fed steam at 550 pounds per square inch (3,800 kPa) and 850 °F (454 °C) to two sets of geared steam turbines which drove two propeller shafts, fitted with large (2 feet (0.61 m) diameter) slow-turning propellers. The machinery was rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), giving a speed of 29 knots (33 mph; 54 km/h).[4][5] Crew was about 189 when operated as a leader and 152 as an ordinary ship.[6]

A twin 4.5-inch (113 mm) Mark 6 gun mount was fitted forward, with 350 rounds of ammunition carried, with close-in armament of a stabilised STAAG (Stabilised Tachymetric Anti-Aircraft Gun) twin Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun mount aft.[7] The design anti-submarine armament consisted of twelve 21-inch torpedo-tubes (eight fixed and two twin rotating mounts) for Mark 20E Bidder homing anti-submarine torpedoes, backed up by two Limbo anti-submarine mortars fitted aft. The Bidder homing torpedoes proved unsuccessful however, being too slow to catch modern submarines, and the torpedo tubes were soon removed.[8]

The ship was fitted with a Type 293Q surface/air search radar on the foremast, with a Type 277 height-finding radar on a short mast forward of the foremast. A Mark 6M fire control system (including a Type 275 radar) for the 4.5 inch guns was mounted above the ship's bridge, while a Type 974 navigation radar was also fitted.[9][8] The ship's sonar fit consisted of Type 174 search, Type 170 fire control sonar for Limbo and a Type 162 sonar for classifying targets on the sea floor.[8]

Construction

Eastbourne was laid down at Vickers Armstrongs Newcastle upon Tyne shipyard on 13 January 1951 and was launched on 29 December 1955.[10] The ship was being fitted out when on 20 February 1956 a fire broke out on board, killing three men, while a dockyard ship manager, Richard Joicey, was awarded the George Medal for rescuing four trapped workers.[11][12] Construction continued at Vickers Armstrongs' Barrow-in-Furness shipyard,[13][6] and Eastbourne was completed on 9 January 1958.[10][13]

Operational service

On commissioning Eastbourne joined the 3rd Training Squadron, based at Londonderry Port, Northern Ireland.[14] Eastbourne carried the flag of Commodore, Fishery Protection Squadron (CFPS) in the first Cod War, off Iceland. The ship paid courtesy visits to its namesake town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England, and to Odense, Denmark, Stockholm, Sweden and Brest, France. Early in her career Eastbourne was the leader of the 4th Frigate Squadron and in 1966 was leader of the Dartmouth Training Squadron.[15] In 1972, Eastbourne replaced Rapid as the 'afloat' training ship for the artificer apprentices at HMS Caledonia. During their 14 weeks aboard ship, the apprentices were trained in general engineering and were examined for their auxiliary machinery certificates. She also took part in the Royal Navy's Fleet Review in celebration of HM the Queen's Silver Jubilee.[16]

Harbour training ship

In 1976 Eastbourne was dispatched to Iceland to assist in the Cod War and on 20 May she was damaged in a collision with the Icelandic gunboat Baldur.[17] During the subsequent repairs in Rosyth in 1977, a hull inspection found that Eastbourne was no longer fit for sea, though her machinery was still in good condition. Her propellers were removed, and 'brake wheels' were fitted as a replacement. This enabled her to be steamed at full power with no forward movement. This enabled the apprentices to assist in operation of her machinery at full power, with the added benefit of churning the dockyard basin water up to improve its aeration. Officers under training from Royal Naval Engineering College Manadon were also able to be trained onboard before their first sea draft.

In the 1980s, Eastbourne remained moored at Rosyth Dockyard alongside Duncan as harbour training ship for the marine engineering artificer apprentices of Caledonia. Once Caledonia was scheduled to close, both Eastbourne and Duncan were de-stored and paid off for disposal in March 1984. Training of the marine engineering artificer apprentices was transferred to HMS Sultan.

References

1. Friedman 2008, pp. 206–208
2. Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, pp. 514–515
3. Friedman 2008, pp. 321–322
4. Friedman 2008, pp. 157, 206, 208, 322
5. Marriott 1983, pp. 58, 64
6. Blackman 1960, p. 64
7. Friedman 2008, pp. 208, 322
8. Marriott 1983, p. 55
9. Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, pp. 484, 519
10. Friedman 2008, p. 336
11. Hodgson, Barbara (20 February 2016). "The story of Richard Joicey's heroics on a devastating day at Walker Naval shipyard". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
12. "Richard Raylton JOICEY, Ship Manager, Walker Naval Yard, Newcastle on Tyne". The London Gazette (Supplement). No. 40819. 29 June 1956. p. 3867.
13. Marriott 1983, p. 64
14. Critchley 1992, p. 98
15. The Navy List, (HMSO, Spring 1966)
16. Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO
17. Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 November 2017.

Publications

• Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1960). Jane's Fighting Ships 1960–61. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Critchley, Mike (1992). British Warships Since 1945: Part 5: Frigates. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Press. ISBN 0-907771-13-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen, eds. (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Marriott, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)