Argus class aircraft carrier HMS Glorious - Part 4 - Surface Combatants
Cruisers
The 3 Tiger class eventually completed 1959-61 IOTL were cancelled and scrapped in 1946 ITTL although they had been launched. 3 of the older Southampton and Colony class cruisers were run on until the middle of the 1960s instead.
In common with aircraft carriers the TTL Admiralty had decided that it was more cost effective to build new cruisers than rebuild the older ones. Therefore Belfast's 1955-59 refit of OTL didn't happen ITTL and neither did the rebuild of Swiftsure begun in 1956 and abandoned in 1960. The money and dockyard capacity released by not rebuilding these cruisers was used to accelerate the conversion of Triumph to a heavy repair ship. IOTL it was begun in 1956 but not completed until 1965. ITTL it was still begun in 1956 but was completed in 1960.
However, there was still not enough money to build any of the guided missile cruisers that were planned in the 1950s ITTL. There weren't any escort cruiser designs to succeed them because the Royal Navy was setting its sights lower. Rather than the force of 5 escort cruisers and 5 strike carriers of 53,000 tons planned in 1960 IOTL it realised that the Treasury would only provide the money to build (and man) 3 escort cruisers and 3 large strike carriers or no escort cruisers and 6 smaller strike carriers of the 35,000 ton type. The Admiralty decided to go for 6 strike carriers of the 35,000 ton type and no escort cruisers to support them because it was more flexible.
Large Destroyers
The Admiralty was forced to cancel all 16 Daring class destroyers at the end of World War II rather than only 8 of them. IOTL the 8 Darings that were built were completed 1952-54 and in ITTL their place was taken by re-commissioning the 8 Battle class destroyers that went into the Reserve Fleet in the late 1940s.
ITTL the Americans offered a licence on the Terrier and Tatar missile systems on favourable terms in the middle of the 1950s which led to the cancellation of Sea Slug in the 1954 Defence Review on the grounds that the American missiles would be in service sooner and cheaper. It didn't work out like that because the 8 County class destroyers built with the system ITTL didn't enter service any earlier and they weren't any cheaper to build. OTOH the TTL County class carried 60 Terriers instead of 30 Sea Slugs due to the more efficient stowage system. Furthermore the American target indication radars were lighter than the Type 901 which enabled 2 to be fitted instead of one so they could engage twice as many targets. The Mk 10 launchers fitted to the TTL County class were also capable of firing the ASROC which was built under licence in Australia instead of Ikara.
The 4 Batch 1 ships were fitted with Terrier, but the 4 Batch 2 ships were fitted to fire the Standard SM-1ER missile. The licence to build the American missiles included export rights in the Commonwealth (less Canada) and Europe (less France and Spain). Thus the Dutch and Italian cruisers fitted with Terrier in the 1960s were fitted with British built Terrier systems. The Australian, Dutch, German and Italian guided missile destroyers and frigates built in the 1960s and 1970s were also fitted with British built Tatar or Standard MR systems.
ITTL the requirement was for 2 Terrier/Standard ER armed destroyers per strike carrier for a total of 12. Originally the plan was to build 4 County class Batch 3 with the Standard ER missile and ADAWS Mk 2. However, this was replaced by the Heavy Destroyer project. This was effectively an Anglicised Kidd class destroyer. The main armament was two Mk 26 launchers each fed by a 44-round magazine. 4 SPG-51 target indicator radars were fitted so it could engage twice as many aircraft as the TTL County and OTL Type 82 destroyer. The Anglicisation was that the Type 988 radar replaced the American SPS-48 radar, one single 4.5" Mk 8 gun replaced the 2 single 5" mountings and 4 Olympus gas turbines replaced the American LM2500 units. It would have been possible to replace the Mk 26 launchers and their magazines with a pair of 61-cell Mk 41 launchers and give them the New Threat Upgrade or Aegis in the 1980s.
As at 1966 the plan was to build 12 of these ships. That is 4 to build which would be ordered in 1967 to bring the GMD force up to the required strength of 12 ships. Then 8 would be built to replace the County class as new ships were considered more cost effective than upgrading the Counties. However, the order for the first 4 was deferred in 1966 and the entire class was cancelled a year later when it was decided to reduce the strike carrier force from 6 ships to 3 when the withdrawal from East of Suez was completed.
The plan to modernise the 8 County Batch 1 and 2 ships to Batch 3 standard was revived. The Batch 1 ships were modernised first and the Batch 2 ships were actually brought up to Batch 4 standard with the Type 2016 sonar instead of the Type 184 and a more advanced ADAWS system than the Mk 2. Although not as capable as the projected Heavy Destroyer and just as expensive to run the modernised Counties of TTL were a great improvement over the OTL Counties. All 8 ships enjoyed much longer service lives in spite of the large crews needed for them.
Small Destroyers and Frigates
ITTL 60 AS versions of the Type 12 were built in place of the 41 Type 12, 12 Type 14 and 7 Type 81 built IOTL. Because I have wanked the development of light helicopters for the Royal Navy the first 18 built (instead of the 6 Whitby and 12 Type 14 frigates) looked like the OTL Rothesay class after their 1966-72 refits (less the Sea Cat). These were followed by 42 Leanders built in place of the 9 Rothesays, 26 Leanders and 7 Type 81s built IOTL.
ITTL 12 AA versions of the Type 12 were built in place of the OTL Type 41, Type 61 and Battle class fleet picket conversions. The TTL version of Type 41 had the Whitby class hull and machinery. They had the same armament as the OTL Type 41 but more aircraft direction capability than the OTL Type 61 because the larger hull allowed a height finding radar and the 6-track CDS to be fitted. Unlike the real Types 41 and 61 the TTL version was fast enough to work with the strike carriers, which is why 4 extra ships were built instead of the Battle class fleet picket conversions. As they were more useful than the OTL ships the first 8 were fitted with the small ship version of ADA in the second half of the 1960s and the ships built in place of the 4 Battle class conversions had ADAWS Mk 4 fitted in the early 1970s.
ITTL the Indian Navy bought 8 Type 12 in place of the 2 Type 12, 3 Type 14 and 3 Type 41 they bought IOTL. The RNZN bought 4 Leanders instead of the OTL 2 Rothesays and 2 Leanders. The SAN bought 3 Leanders instead of the 3 Rothesays of OTL. Chile bought 2 Leandres as OTL. The RNLN bought 6 Leanders built in Dutch yards as OTL. Finally as OTL the RAN bought 6 Type 12s built in their own yards, but instead of the hangar and flight deck for a Wasp helicopter their River class were completed with an Australian built ASROC launcher.
ITTL there was no Ikara modernisation of the Leander class because there was no Ikara. Instead all 42 Leanders built for the RN ITTL were fitted with ADAWS Mk 5 and 6 anti-submarine torpedo tubes. The Limbo AS mortar was removed so that the Wasp helicopter could be replaced by the Lynx.
ITTL the RN planned to follow the Leander class with a Standard MR armed frigate propelled by all gas turbine machinery. However, it grew into a small destroyer and was named the Light Destroyer to distinguish it from the Standard ER armed Heavy Destroyer. It had an enlarged Type 42 Batch III hull with uprated Olympus and Tyne gas turbines (possibly GOGAG instead of COGOG) to maintain the OTL speed. The first 14 Light Destroyers were armed with one 4.5" Mk 8 gun, one Mk 13 launcher serving a magazine for 40 Standard MR or Harpoon missiles and 6 anti-submarine torpedo tubes. However, the hull was large enough for a pair of Phalanx CIWS and 8 Harpoon missiles to be fitted later on. The hangar and flight deck large enough for one Merlin or 2 Lynx helicopters.
14 Light Destroyers Batch 1 were built in place of the 8 Type 21 and 6 Type 42 Batch 1 ships even though they were more expensive than the OTL ships. 8 Batch 2 ships were built instead of the 4 Type 22 Batch 1 and 4 Type 42 Batch 2. 14 Batch 3 were built instead of the 6 Type 22 Batch 2, 4 Type 22 Batch 3 and 4 Type 42 Batch 3 ships. This brought the total built for the Royal Navy up to 36 in 3 batches.
The 14 Light Destroyers Batch 1 had the OTL Type 42 Batch 1 electronics, that is ADAWS Mk 4, the Type 965P radar, the Type 184M sonar and a pair of SPG-51 radars in place of the Type 909 target indicator sets. Subsequent batches received ADAWS Mk 7, the Type 1022 radar, the Types 2031 and 2050 sonar as and when they became available IOTL.
The money spent on developing Sea Dart and Sea Wolf IOTL was spent on improving the Anglicised Standard Missile system ITTL. This included a British equivalent to the New Threat Upgrade which was installed on the 14 Batch 3 Light Destroyers and refitted to the surviving Batch 1 and 2 ships. The destroyers and frigates bought by the Australians, Dutch and Italians in the 1980s that were fitted with American built Standard MR systems would have had British built ones ITTL, which might have included the British NTU equivalent. The 16 Type 23 frigates of TTL had a Mk 41 launcher firing Standard MR missiles in place of the VL Sea Wolf system and probably had the British equivalent of the NTU too.
In common with OTL sale of 2 Type 42s to Argentina, one Light Destroyer was built in the UK and another built in Argentina ITTL. Also in common with OTL the Australians cancelled plans to build up to 10 Light Destroyers in their own yards, but then bought 4 from British yards, instead of 4 American built Perry class patrol frigates. The Australians then planned to build 6 Light Destroyers in their own yards instead of the 6 Australian built Perry class planned IOTL, but in the event only 2 were built.
Cruisers
The 3 Tiger class eventually completed 1959-61 IOTL were cancelled and scrapped in 1946 ITTL although they had been launched. 3 of the older Southampton and Colony class cruisers were run on until the middle of the 1960s instead.
In common with aircraft carriers the TTL Admiralty had decided that it was more cost effective to build new cruisers than rebuild the older ones. Therefore Belfast's 1955-59 refit of OTL didn't happen ITTL and neither did the rebuild of Swiftsure begun in 1956 and abandoned in 1960. The money and dockyard capacity released by not rebuilding these cruisers was used to accelerate the conversion of Triumph to a heavy repair ship. IOTL it was begun in 1956 but not completed until 1965. ITTL it was still begun in 1956 but was completed in 1960.
However, there was still not enough money to build any of the guided missile cruisers that were planned in the 1950s ITTL. There weren't any escort cruiser designs to succeed them because the Royal Navy was setting its sights lower. Rather than the force of 5 escort cruisers and 5 strike carriers of 53,000 tons planned in 1960 IOTL it realised that the Treasury would only provide the money to build (and man) 3 escort cruisers and 3 large strike carriers or no escort cruisers and 6 smaller strike carriers of the 35,000 ton type. The Admiralty decided to go for 6 strike carriers of the 35,000 ton type and no escort cruisers to support them because it was more flexible.
Large Destroyers
The Admiralty was forced to cancel all 16 Daring class destroyers at the end of World War II rather than only 8 of them. IOTL the 8 Darings that were built were completed 1952-54 and in ITTL their place was taken by re-commissioning the 8 Battle class destroyers that went into the Reserve Fleet in the late 1940s.
ITTL the Americans offered a licence on the Terrier and Tatar missile systems on favourable terms in the middle of the 1950s which led to the cancellation of Sea Slug in the 1954 Defence Review on the grounds that the American missiles would be in service sooner and cheaper. It didn't work out like that because the 8 County class destroyers built with the system ITTL didn't enter service any earlier and they weren't any cheaper to build. OTOH the TTL County class carried 60 Terriers instead of 30 Sea Slugs due to the more efficient stowage system. Furthermore the American target indication radars were lighter than the Type 901 which enabled 2 to be fitted instead of one so they could engage twice as many targets. The Mk 10 launchers fitted to the TTL County class were also capable of firing the ASROC which was built under licence in Australia instead of Ikara.
The 4 Batch 1 ships were fitted with Terrier, but the 4 Batch 2 ships were fitted to fire the Standard SM-1ER missile. The licence to build the American missiles included export rights in the Commonwealth (less Canada) and Europe (less France and Spain). Thus the Dutch and Italian cruisers fitted with Terrier in the 1960s were fitted with British built Terrier systems. The Australian, Dutch, German and Italian guided missile destroyers and frigates built in the 1960s and 1970s were also fitted with British built Tatar or Standard MR systems.
ITTL the requirement was for 2 Terrier/Standard ER armed destroyers per strike carrier for a total of 12. Originally the plan was to build 4 County class Batch 3 with the Standard ER missile and ADAWS Mk 2. However, this was replaced by the Heavy Destroyer project. This was effectively an Anglicised Kidd class destroyer. The main armament was two Mk 26 launchers each fed by a 44-round magazine. 4 SPG-51 target indicator radars were fitted so it could engage twice as many aircraft as the TTL County and OTL Type 82 destroyer. The Anglicisation was that the Type 988 radar replaced the American SPS-48 radar, one single 4.5" Mk 8 gun replaced the 2 single 5" mountings and 4 Olympus gas turbines replaced the American LM2500 units. It would have been possible to replace the Mk 26 launchers and their magazines with a pair of 61-cell Mk 41 launchers and give them the New Threat Upgrade or Aegis in the 1980s.
As at 1966 the plan was to build 12 of these ships. That is 4 to build which would be ordered in 1967 to bring the GMD force up to the required strength of 12 ships. Then 8 would be built to replace the County class as new ships were considered more cost effective than upgrading the Counties. However, the order for the first 4 was deferred in 1966 and the entire class was cancelled a year later when it was decided to reduce the strike carrier force from 6 ships to 3 when the withdrawal from East of Suez was completed.
The plan to modernise the 8 County Batch 1 and 2 ships to Batch 3 standard was revived. The Batch 1 ships were modernised first and the Batch 2 ships were actually brought up to Batch 4 standard with the Type 2016 sonar instead of the Type 184 and a more advanced ADAWS system than the Mk 2. Although not as capable as the projected Heavy Destroyer and just as expensive to run the modernised Counties of TTL were a great improvement over the OTL Counties. All 8 ships enjoyed much longer service lives in spite of the large crews needed for them.
Small Destroyers and Frigates
ITTL 60 AS versions of the Type 12 were built in place of the 41 Type 12, 12 Type 14 and 7 Type 81 built IOTL. Because I have wanked the development of light helicopters for the Royal Navy the first 18 built (instead of the 6 Whitby and 12 Type 14 frigates) looked like the OTL Rothesay class after their 1966-72 refits (less the Sea Cat). These were followed by 42 Leanders built in place of the 9 Rothesays, 26 Leanders and 7 Type 81s built IOTL.
ITTL 12 AA versions of the Type 12 were built in place of the OTL Type 41, Type 61 and Battle class fleet picket conversions. The TTL version of Type 41 had the Whitby class hull and machinery. They had the same armament as the OTL Type 41 but more aircraft direction capability than the OTL Type 61 because the larger hull allowed a height finding radar and the 6-track CDS to be fitted. Unlike the real Types 41 and 61 the TTL version was fast enough to work with the strike carriers, which is why 4 extra ships were built instead of the Battle class fleet picket conversions. As they were more useful than the OTL ships the first 8 were fitted with the small ship version of ADA in the second half of the 1960s and the ships built in place of the 4 Battle class conversions had ADAWS Mk 4 fitted in the early 1970s.
ITTL the Indian Navy bought 8 Type 12 in place of the 2 Type 12, 3 Type 14 and 3 Type 41 they bought IOTL. The RNZN bought 4 Leanders instead of the OTL 2 Rothesays and 2 Leanders. The SAN bought 3 Leanders instead of the 3 Rothesays of OTL. Chile bought 2 Leandres as OTL. The RNLN bought 6 Leanders built in Dutch yards as OTL. Finally as OTL the RAN bought 6 Type 12s built in their own yards, but instead of the hangar and flight deck for a Wasp helicopter their River class were completed with an Australian built ASROC launcher.
ITTL there was no Ikara modernisation of the Leander class because there was no Ikara. Instead all 42 Leanders built for the RN ITTL were fitted with ADAWS Mk 5 and 6 anti-submarine torpedo tubes. The Limbo AS mortar was removed so that the Wasp helicopter could be replaced by the Lynx.
ITTL the RN planned to follow the Leander class with a Standard MR armed frigate propelled by all gas turbine machinery. However, it grew into a small destroyer and was named the Light Destroyer to distinguish it from the Standard ER armed Heavy Destroyer. It had an enlarged Type 42 Batch III hull with uprated Olympus and Tyne gas turbines (possibly GOGAG instead of COGOG) to maintain the OTL speed. The first 14 Light Destroyers were armed with one 4.5" Mk 8 gun, one Mk 13 launcher serving a magazine for 40 Standard MR or Harpoon missiles and 6 anti-submarine torpedo tubes. However, the hull was large enough for a pair of Phalanx CIWS and 8 Harpoon missiles to be fitted later on. The hangar and flight deck large enough for one Merlin or 2 Lynx helicopters.
14 Light Destroyers Batch 1 were built in place of the 8 Type 21 and 6 Type 42 Batch 1 ships even though they were more expensive than the OTL ships. 8 Batch 2 ships were built instead of the 4 Type 22 Batch 1 and 4 Type 42 Batch 2. 14 Batch 3 were built instead of the 6 Type 22 Batch 2, 4 Type 22 Batch 3 and 4 Type 42 Batch 3 ships. This brought the total built for the Royal Navy up to 36 in 3 batches.
The 14 Light Destroyers Batch 1 had the OTL Type 42 Batch 1 electronics, that is ADAWS Mk 4, the Type 965P radar, the Type 184M sonar and a pair of SPG-51 radars in place of the Type 909 target indicator sets. Subsequent batches received ADAWS Mk 7, the Type 1022 radar, the Types 2031 and 2050 sonar as and when they became available IOTL.
The money spent on developing Sea Dart and Sea Wolf IOTL was spent on improving the Anglicised Standard Missile system ITTL. This included a British equivalent to the New Threat Upgrade which was installed on the 14 Batch 3 Light Destroyers and refitted to the surviving Batch 1 and 2 ships. The destroyers and frigates bought by the Australians, Dutch and Italians in the 1980s that were fitted with American built Standard MR systems would have had British built ones ITTL, which might have included the British NTU equivalent. The 16 Type 23 frigates of TTL had a Mk 41 launcher firing Standard MR missiles in place of the VL Sea Wolf system and probably had the British equivalent of the NTU too.
In common with OTL sale of 2 Type 42s to Argentina, one Light Destroyer was built in the UK and another built in Argentina ITTL. Also in common with OTL the Australians cancelled plans to build up to 10 Light Destroyers in their own yards, but then bought 4 from British yards, instead of 4 American built Perry class patrol frigates. The Australians then planned to build 6 Light Destroyers in their own yards instead of the 6 Australian built Perry class planned IOTL, but in the event only 2 were built.
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