HMS ''Grafton'' was one of a dozen
Blackwood-class frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
(also known as the Type 14 class) of second-rate
anti-submarine frigates built for the
Royal Navy in the 1950s.
Description
The ''Blackwood'' class displaced at
standard load and at
deep load. They had an
overall length of , a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draught of . The ships were powered by one
English Electric
N.ยบ UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail)
The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...
geared
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
that drove the single
propeller shaft, using steam provided by two
Babcock & Wilcox boiler
A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...
s. The turbine developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of .
[Marriott, p. 66] The ''Blackwood''s had a range of at . Their complement was 140 officers and
ratings.
The ships were armed with three
Bofors 40 mm guns in single mounts. The mount on the
quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...
was later removed as it was unusable in heavy seas. They were equipped with two triple-barrelled
Limbo Mark 10 anti-submarine mortars. The ''Blackwood''-class ships had the same sonar suite as the larger s where the Limbo mortars were controlled by three sonars, the Type 174 search set, Type 162 target-classification set and the Type 170 'pencil beam' targeting set to determine the bearing and depth of the target.
Construction and career
''Grafton'' was launched by Lady Grantham, wife of Admiral Sir
Guy Grantham, who was Commander-in-Chief Portsmouth. She was first commissioned in January 1957, serving with the
2nd Frigate Squadron based at
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located 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 man-made harbour in the world, and rema ...
until March 1963, when the ship started a refit at
Portsmouth Dockyard.
[Critchley 1986, p. 91.] Following this refit, ''Grafton'' joined the 20th Frigate Squadron based at
Londonderry Port in
Northern Ireland, being based there until April 1969, when she was
paid off.
She attended Portsmouth Navy Days in 1967 and again in 1968.
[Programme, ''Navy Days at Portsmouth August 31st-September 2nd 1968, p. 17.''] ''Grafton'' was broken up at
Inverkeithing from December 1971.
Notes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafton
Blackwood-class frigates
1954 ships