'Adaptable' new Type 31 ships HMS Active and Bulldog take step closer being in Royal Navy Portsmouth fleet
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Construction work to build “capable and adaptable” new warships has passed two major milestones - with the frigates due to be based in Portsmouth once completed.
HMS Active, the second out of five Type 31 frigates being assembled, has emerged out of the gigantic assembly hall to be completed and tested. This comes as the first steel was cut for the fourth warship, HMS Bulldog.
Hundreds of workers, sailors, military personnel, and political leaders, watched as lasers set to work cutting the first steel plates for the fourth frigate at Babcock International’s state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility in Rosyth, Scotland. The 28-metre-tall doors at the neighbouring Venturer Assembly Hall were then opened and HMS Active – weighing several thousand tonnes – was carefully rolled out on a self-propelled modular transporter.
The frame was placed on a gigantic remote-controlled trailer amid a laser and light show that lit up the north banks of the River Forth. Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Steve Moorhouse said: “These milestones reflect the momentum, ambition and national commitment behind the regeneration of our future frigate force.
“The Type 31 Inspiration class represents a major step forward in modernising our fleet. These are capable and adaptable ships, designed to give the Royal Navy the flexibility it needs in a fast-changing strategic environment. Their combat systems and modular design will allow upgrades throughout their life, ensuring they can meet both today’s threats and those we cannot yet see.”
The Inspiration-class vessels will be replacing the Royal Navy’s Type 23 counterparts, while being bolstered by eight Type 26 City-class ships. They will be tasked with performing various duties across the globe, from conducting maritime security operations and providing disaster relief to full-scale warfighting if required. Type 26 vessels will be tasked with anti-submarine patrols, primarily in the North Atlantic and High North.
Four of five Type 31 frigates are now under construction at Babcock’s yard. HMS Venturer, the first of the five, is currently going through the fitting out process where systems and equipment are being installed. The keel for HMS Formidable, the third ship, was laid down just before Christmas. HMS Campbelltown will follow.
The actions of the crew of HMS Bulldog changed the course of World War 2 by seizing an Enigma coding machine from a crippled German submarine in May 1941. It would help Alan Turing and fellow codebreakers at Bletchley Park read hitherto indecipherable radio messages; breaking Enigma is credited with shortening the conflict by as much as two years.
HMS Active served extensively around the globe for 17 years, most notably in the Falklands in 1982 when her guns pounded Argentine positions to support ground forces closing in on the capital Stanley. Subsequently sold to the Pakistan Navy, her career spanned a remarkable six decades.
Among the hundreds of people watching Active emerge from the assembly hall was 66-year-old Mike Hurley, who spent near 24 years in the Navy as a marine engineering – including service aboard HMS Active in the Falklands. He said: “I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Active name is being used again as my last sighting of her was on a YouTube video being torpedoed after completing her service as the PNS Shah Jahan – a sad end. Great to see the Active name living on.”
Some 1,250 people are being employed directly in the construction at Rosyth and sites around the UK. The same number are working nationwide to support the Type 31 programme. Commander Thomas Hetherington, HMS Venturer’s Senior Naval Officer, said: “The combination of HMS Bulldog’s steel cutting ceremony and the roll out of HMS Active today demonstrates the breadth and depth of shipbuilding capability here in Rosyth and signals to the country and our allies the commitment the Royal Navy is making to our future defence.”
David Lockwood, CEO, Babcock, added: “Delivering the steel cut for HMS Bulldog and the roll-out of HMS Active on the same day is a powerful demonstration of the drive and delivery focus of our Type 31 programme as we build the next modern, future-ready fleet for the Royal Navy. These milestones show the maturity of our facility, the success of the design and build process, and the skill and dedication of our Babcock team. We are not only building a new class of ship at Rosyth, we are also at the forefront of a national endeavour that is strengthening the UK’s shipbuilding industry, supporting sovereign and allied maritime capability, while creating an advanced industrial footprint and expertise that will support the future of global shipbuilding for generations to come.”