Type 22 Broadsword frigate Disposition
The Type 22 anti-submarine frigate proved too big and expensive for the Royal Navy, and everyone else. Ordering of Type 22s proceeded slowly, in part because of the comparatively high unit cost of the ships. The unit cost of the last Type 12Ms had been about £10m; Type 21s cost around £20m each; when the first Type 22s were ordered, unit costs were estimated at £30m though, by the time that the first ship (HMS Broadsword) commissioned in 1979, inflation had driven this figure up to £68m, which was far higher than the cost of the contemporary Type 42s (HMS Glasgow, also commissioned in 1979, cost £40m). By 1982, the quoted unit cost of a Type 22 had risen to £127m.
On 11 January 1985, Mr. Dalyell asked the Secretary of State for Defence: "what is the latest cost estimate of a type 22 frigate, with stores, spare parts and ammunition." The Secretary of State for Defence, Mr. Lee, replied: "The average cost of a batch III type 22 frigate is currently estimated at about £140 million at 1984-85 prices. The cost of embarked helicopters, the first outfit of stores, spare parts and ammunition are estimated at about £18 million at the same price level."
Ten Type 22 frigates were brought out of service half way through their working lives. The reduction in the size of the destroyer and frigate force from 35 to 32, as announced in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review White Paper, was achieved by paying off the Type 22 frigates HMS Boxer, Beaver and London in 1999. HMS Brave was replaced by a new Type 23 frigate in 2000 as was HMS Coventry in 2001. The remaining five Type 22 frigates had a planned service life of approximately 23 years.
The actual cost per annum of operation for ships such as Type 23 frigates, Type 22 frigates, SSNs, Hunt Class minehunters and Sandown Class minehunters will vary considerably dependent on the tasking/maintenance undertaken. Indicative annual costs, including manpower, fuel and stores only, would be in the region of £16 million for a Type 23 and a Type 22 frigate, £11 million for an SSN, £3 million for a Hunt Class minehunter and £2 million for a Sandown Class minehunter.
HMS Boxer was in service for 16 years - half the normal lifespan - when it was decommissioned in December 2000. HMS Beaver, the first of the Type 22s declared surplus under the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, was sold in a non-operational condition to the commercial market. HMS Brilliant was the third of the Type 22 frigates commissioned by the Royal Navy. She served long and well, most notably in the Falklands War, claiming several aircraft 'kills'. After serving 19 years, she was sold to the Brazilian Navy in 1997.
By July 2002 HMS Boxer and HMS Brave were moored at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. The ships had been de-equipped to an unclassified status and all stores have been removed. As part of the disposal process, significant quantities of material had been returned to Ministry of Defence stores to assist with fulfilling fleet shortage requirements. The platforms were designated for CINCFLEET High Seas Firing (i.e. Hulk Targets) in 2003-05. These two Royal Navy frigates, HMS Boxer (launched 1983) and HMS Brave (1985), were to be towed into the Atlantic and blown apart by missiles and torpedoes in target practice. The two, 4600 tons and £200m each, were laid off in 1997 due to defence cuts. The Navy had tried to sell them, and Chile was the only country interested, but Chile backed off when dictator General Pinochet was arrested in London on a Spanish warrant in 1998.
Warship World magazine editor Mike Critchley said "It was scandalous these frigates were discarded halfway through their useful life. The Navy has suffered at the hands of the politicians, who have embarked on a dangerous exercise of disposing of ships long before their replacements are built - and some are not being replaced. The defence of the realm is all about paying our national defence insurance policy, just as we do at home with our fire insurance."
Navy Commodore Richard Leaman responded that "We have 32 destroyers and frigates which are exactly what are needed to meet our commitments as laid down by the Government. Boxer and Brave were built for hunting submarines in the Cold War - but all destroyers and frigates now carry anti-sub helicopters so there is no longer any need for specialist frigates. Using the ships to test missiles and torpedoes provides invaluable experience. It is also a good way of testing the effectiveness of weapons."
| Ship | Original cost (£ million) |
HMS Cornwall | 131.05 |
HMS Cumberland | 141.17 |
HMS Campbeltown | 161.97 |
HMS Chatham | 175.28 |
Two warships, HMS London and HMS Coventry, both Type 22 frigates, were sold to Romania for about £120 million, after long negotiations. HMS London entered service in 1987, the fourth of the 'stretched' or batch 2 design Type 22 frigate. Her primary role was anti-submarine operations and she was fitted with the latest computer assisted sonar systems and communications equipment. This had helped Romania to join Nato because of the requirement to modernise its forces, and the deal had also provided work for British industry, as the ships needed some refurbishment. HMS Sheffield, a Type 22 frigate which carried the name of the warship sunk in the Falkands war, was sold to Chile in 2003 for about £10 million.
As of April 2001 final disposal options on the remaining Type 22 frigates -- HMS Boxer, HMS London and HMS Brave -- were currently being considered. HMS Beaver, the first of the Type 22s declared surplus under the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, had been sold in a non-operational condition to the commercial market. As of April 2002 there were no plans to sell surplus RN Type 22 frigates to Chile because of the lack of available vessels to offer in the immediate future.
Devonport is playing an integral part in the maintenance and upkeep of the Royal Navy surface fleet. In 2008 Babcock Marine completed the successful upkeep of the Type 22 frigate HMS Cumberland, and is currently undertaking a similar overhaul of the Navy's helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean. Babcock Marine, along with Fleet Support Ltd at Portsmouth, is working closely with the Ministry of Defence to allocate future upkeep packages through the auspices of the surface ship support project. BAE Systems was responsible for the successful reactivation of two ex-Royal Navy Type 22 frigates for Romania. The physical work, undertaken at its site in Portsmouth, was part of a larger package involving crew training and initial support to the ships. The vessels, Regina Maria and Regel Ferdinand are now in service with the Romanian Navy.
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