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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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 somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

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, 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 ...

s" if they could achieve "fleet speed" or as "

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

" 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 the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

'' -class :

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

powered, high-speed "

first-rate In the rating system of the British 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 ...

" anti-submarine

. * Type 12M '' Rothesay-''

class Class 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 differentl ...

: Modified Type 12 design. * Type 12I ''

Leander Leander is one of the protagonists in the story of Hero and Leander in Greek mythology. Leander may also refer to: People * Leander (given name) * Leander (surname) Places * Leander, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Le ...

'' : 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 slo ...

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 cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

)

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...

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 or Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a planned class of frigate intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the 2020s alongside the subm ...

is the proposed General Purpose frigate as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.Defense News
/ref> * Type 32 : The

Type 32 frigate The Type 32 frigate is a frigate currently in development in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. It was officially announced in November 2020 by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a result of the Integrated Review. Built after the Type 26 and ...

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 species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, 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 s ...

(''ii'') ''Sheffield''-class : Gas-turbine powered, fleet area-defence anti-aircraft destroyer. * Type 43 destroyer : 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 Ship class, 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 warfa ...

''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 cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

'' -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 usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

'' -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 The Type 82 or ''Bristol''-class destroyer was a 1960s guided missile destroyer design intended to replace s in the Royal Navy. Originally eight warships were planned to provide area air-defence for the planned CVA-01 aircraft carriers. They ...

: 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 Ship class, 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 warfa ...

entering service in the late 2030s.

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 Royal Navy Ship naming conventions