The Type 43 was a proposed

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

class for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. 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 attack. There were two proposed variants - the small variant and the large variant. The project advanced to feasibility design before being cancelled in 1981.

Small variant

The design for the small variant Type 43 resembled a Type 42 with one twin Sea Dart launcher forward and directors fore and aft.

Large variant

The design for the large variant Type 43 had twin Sea Dart launchers both forward and aft with four radar directors. Also, two GWS.25 Seawolf launchers were located forward and aft. With launchers at both ends the flight deck was relocated

midships __NOTOC__ M ...

between the two superstructure blocks. The helicopter hangar would have room for one

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

or two

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

helicopters.

Type 44

The Type 44 was proposed as a similar to the small variant Type 43, but with enhanced anti-submarine capability.

Cancellation

The Type 43/44 programme was cancelled by the

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...

John Nott Sir John William Frederic Nott (born 1 February 1932) is a former British Conservative Party politician. He was a senior politician of the late 1970s and early 1980s, playing a prominent role as Secretary of State for Defence during the 1982 in ...

in the 1981 defence review.

References

* * {{cite book , title=British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After , first=Norman , last=Friedman , publisher=Greenhill Books , year=2006 , isbn=1-86176-137-6 Destroyer classes Proposed ships of the Royal Navy Ship classes of the Royal Navy Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom