CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
Valiant class.
Three more fleet submarines are under
construction and a twelfth is planned to be ordered
during the year.
(iii) Destroyers and Frigates
HMS Sheffield, the first of the new Type 42
guided-missile destroyers, has entered service.
The first Type 21 frigate, HMS Amazon, has also
entered service and three more are to be accepted
this year.
The first of the new Type 22 frigates
was ordered early in 1974 and is currently under
construction by Messrs Yarrow. Five more Type
42s and four more Type 21s are under construction
and orders for two Type 42s and one Type 22 are
planned for this year.
(iv) Mine Countermeasures Vessels
The first ship of a new class of glass-reinforced
plastic mine countermeasures vessels is to be ordered
shortly from Messrs Vosper Thorneycroft.
This vessel
will be the largest ship ever built in glass-reinforced
plastic and is designed for both mine-hunting and
minesweeping.
(v)
Other Ships
A survey ship and two small fleet tankers have been
accepted into service. The Royal Navy has also acquired an
ocean-going tug, commissioned as the submarine tender HMS Wakeful, for duties in the Clyde area. These vessels
are in addition to those mentioned in Chapter II
(paragraph 49) for distant patrols in British offshore waters. The first Bird Class patrol boat, HMS Kingfisher,
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CONEDENDENTIAL
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