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Type 22 frigate

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Type 22 frigate

The Type 22 frigate also known as the Broadsword class was a class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches.

Initially intended to be anti-submarine warfare frigates as part of NATO contribution, the ships became general purpose warships.

HMS Cornwall was the last Royal Navy Type 22 frigate, retired from service on 30 June 2011.

Five Type 22s were scrapped and two more were sunk as targets. The seven other vessels were sold to the Brazilian, Romanian and Chilean navies; four of these remain in service, one was sunk as a target, one laid up, and one sold for scrap.[citation needed]

It was originally envisaged that all Type 22s would have names beginning with 'B' (Broadsword, etc.), following the 'A' names used for Type 21 frigates (Amazon, etc.). This changed after the Falklands War when two replacement ships were ordered for the destroyers sunk (Sheffield and Coventry) and were named to commemorate them. Another vessel ordered earlier but not yet started, which was to be named Bloodhound was renamed London.

The alphabetical progression was re-established with the Batch 3 ships (Cornwall, etc.) before being temporarily abandoned with the Type 23 class, named after Dukedoms (Norfolk, Lancaster, etc.). The Royal Navy's latest escort class – the Type 45 or Daring class – have re-introduced the alphabetical progression, using destroyer names from the 1930s and 1950s.

The names selected for the four Batch 3 ships were a mixture: two, Cornwall and Cumberland, revived County-class names previously carried both by First World War-era Monmouth-class armoured cruisers, and by Second World War-era County-class heavy cruisers. The other Batch 3s, Chatham and Campbeltown, were Town names, the former reviving a 1911 Town-class light cruiser name, and the latter commemorating HMS Campbeltown famous for participation in the St Nazaire Raid in 1942; the name for HMS Chatham was selected as a salute to the Medway town, where the Chatham Dockyard, established in 1570, had closed in 1984.[citation needed]

The Type 22 was designed to be a specialist anti-submarine warfare vessel as part of the Royal Navy's contribution to NATO. During Royal Navy service the ships evolved into general purpose frigates with weapons for use against other surface ships, aircraft and submarines. They were built in three batches giving rise to three sub-classes, the first Broadsword of four ships, the second Boxer of six ships and the third and final, Cornwall of four ships. During their Royal Navy service the ships had enhanced command, control and co-ordination facilities that resulted in their often being used as flagships on deployments.

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