At the beginning of the 1990s, the Royal Navy was a force designed for the Cold War - with its three ASW aircraft carriers and a force of small frigates and destroyers, its purpose was to search for and destroy Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic. However, the Falklands War proved a need for the Royal Navy to regain a bluewater capability which, with its resources at the time, would prove difficult. So, over the course of the 1990s, the navy has begun a series of projects designed to bring it into the 21st century.
Major Fleet Units
The most significant source of power projection available to a navy is the aircraft carrier, and in the Royal Navy this is no exception. However, the three ships of the Invincible class are limited in what they can actually do, due not only to their small size, but also to the capabilities of the Sea Harrier. As a consequence, in the Strategic Defence Review of 1998, the British Government announced it would replace the Invincible class with a pair of much larger vessels, in a project that has been designated as 'CVF'. These two ships will displace over 50,000 tonnes, making them the largest ever operated by the Royal Navy. They will be STOVL carriers, operating the STOVL variant of the Lockheed F-35, which has been ordered by both the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force to replace the Harrier. It will also operate the Merlin ASW helicopter, and a platform for Maritime Airbourne Surveilance and Control (MASC), among the contenders for which are a modified version of the Merlin, the E-2 Hawkeye or a modified version of the V-22 Osprey.
Since the mid 1980s, the Royal Navy has been looking at ways of replacing the small and increasingly obsolete Type 42 air defence destroyers, which have been in service since the early 1970s. After two failed collaberative efforts - the NFR-90 project, a joint NATO venture that Britain withdrew from in 1989, and Project Horizon, a scheme in association with France and Italy, which failed in 1999 - the government announced that a new class of destroyer, the Type 45 would replace the Type 42. Type 45 will displace approximately 7,200 tonnes, twice the size of its predecessor, and will be the largest combat ships (except aircraft carriers and amphibious vessels) built since the Tiger class of the mid 1950s. This will provide significantly improved living space for the crew, which will be approximately the same size as the Type 42. For its primary mission, it will be equipped with the PAAMS integrated anti-aircraft system. As with the Type 42, the Type 45 will also have a limited anti-surface/anti-submarine role, being equipped with a 4.5in gun and a helicopter, which will either be Lynx or Merlin. Although as built it will not be fitted with anti-ship or land attack missiles, its size will allow upgrades to be made if required, giving it an enhanced general warfare role.
At present, the majority of the navy's escorts are Type 22 and Type 23 frigates. Although these are capable units, they are, as with the rest of the combat fleet, designed for the Royal Navy's Cold War role. For the bluewater missions they are being asked to perform, they are not as well equipped as they could be, and their small size makes equipment upgrades difficult. Work has therefore begun on Future Surface Combatant (FSC), to replace the Type 22 and 23. At present there are different design proposals being studied, with the most high profile and ambitious being a trimaran hull. To this end, the study vessel Triton was constructed to study the trimaran concept. This has advantages over a conventional monohull, in terms of higher speed through decreased drag, greater stability and surface area on deck. Should the trimaran be unsuccessful, the hull form of the Type 45 could be adapted with an emphasis on general warfare rather than air defence.
Amphibious Units
In 1990, the Royal Navy's amphibious forces were still centred around the venerable Fearless class LPDs, both of which were commissioned in the 1960s. The end of the Cold War saw a re-evaluation of the navy's amphibious role - not only were replacements for the Fearless class required, but increasingly helicopter assault capabilities were recognised as vital, capabilities which the navy had not had since the 1970s. An unsuccessful attempt to use RFA Argus in this role re-emphasised the need for a specialist vessel, and so HMS Ocean was ordered in 1993. The ship's hull form is based on that of the Invincible class, but she was constructed to commercial specifications and to a modular design (meaning the ship was assembled from pre-constructed blocks). Commissioned in 1998, Ocean is the first purpose built helicopter carrier in the Royal Navy. She has space for an Embarked Military Force (EMF) of up to 800 troops and their associated equipment, or 500 troops plus up to 40 light vehicles and 6 field guns. Her air group is tailored to whichever operational situation is called for, but would typically include up to 12 Sea King transport helicopters, supported by up to 6 Lynx battlefield attack helicopters. However, the flight deck is rated to accomodate helicopters the size of Chinook. Troops can also be transported off the ship by one of four LCVPs that are fitted.
In 1996, the Government placed an order for a pair of ships to directly replace HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid; these two ships were given the names HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. In preparation for the entry into service of these two vessels, Fearless was withdrawn in 2002 (Intrepid had been non-operational since 1991), to be replaced by Albion in 2003; Bulwark will commission in 2004. Both ships will have an overload capacity of 700 troops, with the standard being just over 300. Up to six Challenger 2 main battle tanks, or 30 smaller tracked vehicles, can be accomodated on the vehicle decks - these can be removed by one of the LCUs located in the stern docking well. This can also accomodate an LCAC. Another four small LCVPs, similar to those carried by Ocean, are also carried, and there is a flight deck (though no hanger) which can support either two medium lift (Merlin or Sea King) or one heavy lift (Chinook) helicopter.
Ocean, Albion and Bulwark form the core of the amphibious force. They will be supported in their mission by the LSDs of the 'Bay' class. These ships, operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, will replace four of the elderly LSLs of the 'Sir' class. The new ships will resemble the LPDs in having a large flight deck and stern docking well, with a capacity of over 300 troops.
Although the units mentioned would form the core of an amphibious task force, additional capacity would be provided in the form of six roll on/roll off vessels for strategic transport (as opposed to direct amphibious assault). In addition, the three ships of the Invincible class have a secondary role as an LPH; it is rumoured that one of the vessels will be permaently converted to this mission once CVF enters service.
Hydrographic Squadron
The Navy's surveying service has responsibility for surveying and charting the oceans, the information from which goes into the numerous Admiralty produced charts and publications that are used all over the world. As a consequence, the work that the service does must be as accurate as possible, which requires the best equipment available.
The Royal Navy has a mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). which comes in the form of the dedicated Antarctic Patrol Ship. However, in 1990, HMS Endurance was over 30 years old and, having been repaired following collision with an iceberg, was found to be unsafe to return to the Antarctic. The vessel that was chosen to replace her was chartered from a Norwegian shipping company and commissioned as HMS Polar Circle. After a successful deployment, it was decided to purchase the ship outright, and she was renamed HMS Endurance in honour of her predecessor. Endurance 's mission is twofold; to assist the BAS in charting and surveying the waters around the Antarctic, a task for which she is well suited thanks to her strengthened bow, and to provide a semi-permanent naval presence in the South Atlantic in support of the Atlantic Patrol Task (South) deployment.
The navy's ocean going survey needs were served by the four ships of the Hecla class, all built in the 1960s and 70s. Two were paid off in the late 1980s, while HMS Hecla left the service in 1997. She was replaced by the brand new survey vessel HMS Scott. Scott is the largest ocean survey vessel in Western Europe and, at over 13,000 tonnes, the seventh largest vessel in the Royal Navy (only the three carriers and three amphibious vessels displace more). Depite replacing four ships with only one, the Scott is able to spend over 300 days a year at sea, thanks to its crew rotation system, whereby the total complement of 63 is divided into three teams - two man the ship, while the third remains ashore on leave or in training and rotating back on board when the ship returns.
In addition to the ocean survey vessel, the navy retains a single coastal survey ship, HMS Roebuck, which performs the same tasks on the UK continental shelf as HMS Scott does in deep ocean. However, the remainder of the survey fleet has since been replaced by the two brand new multi-role ships of the Echo class, which commissioned in 2002 and 2003. HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise build on the success of the Scott by utilising similar methods of operation and technology.
