HMS Sutherland – last Royal Navy Type 23 frigate to undergo life extension refit goes back to sea
Following LIFEX and engine upgrade refit period lasting 49 months, HMS Sutherland sailed from Devonport this afternoon.
More than 4 years after being handed over to Babcock, ‘the fighting Clan’, HMS Sutherland left the wall to begin sea trials. Her refit was the second most time-consuming of the class, only HMS St Alban’s pandemic-hit refit took longer.
Each frigate undergoing life extension (LIFEX) refit has a hull survey and repairs, the Sea Wolf missile system was replaced with Sea Ceptor and a wide range of other upgrades and refurbishments. Other important additions are the foundations and cabling needed to take the Naval Strike Missile system (canisters to be embarked at a later date) and the news S2150 bow-mounted sonar.
While delivering an important capability boost, the work has mostly taken longer than expected, each vessel is has effectively been a unique project. As each ship was stripped down and surveyed, different levels of hull corrosion, structural problems and equipment deterioration were revealed. Work on the ship that was launched in 1996 included more than 800 steel hull inserts and 11,500 weld repairs – a total of 5km of welding.
The Power Generation Machinery Upgrade (PGMU) propulsion improvement project involves fitting new equipment within the existing structural and compartment constraints and integrate with the ship’s legacy services and systems. Around 8 km of new cable and 600m of new pipework has to be installed. The new diesel-generator sets have to be placed into the Forward Auxiliary Machinery Room (FAMR) below decks. The Upper Auxiliary Machinery Room (UAMR) is on the main deck level and is more easily accessible via deckhead soft patches but was also completely stripped and much equipment re-sited.
Between 2017-202, HMS Sutherland was the hardest working of the RN’s surface escorts and was the last ship in the fleet to carry the Sea Wolf missile system. Newly refurbished, Sutherland can expect to work just as hard in an even more threadbare fleet and serve well into the 2030s until replaced by by a Type 26 frigate.
With the LIFEX programme now completed, Babcock is now tasked with keeping the surviving Type 23s frigates going into the 2030s. HMS Kent is currently in the Frigate Support Centre undergoing an extensive post-LIFEX upkeep period.
Source: currinsnavalandmaritme