Australian light destroyer project
Encyclopedia
The Australian light destroyer project aimed to build a class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of small destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s for the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(RAN). The project began in 1966 with the goal of developing simple light destroyers (DDL) to support patrol boat
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
operations. The project was rescoped in 1969 when the Navy decided to use the ships to replace other destroyers as they retired, leading to an increase in the design's size and complexity. Concerns over the ships' cost and technological risk led the government to cancel the DDL project in 1973 on the RAN's advice, and a variant of the United States' was procured instead.
Requirement
From 1963 to 1966, RAN warships took partMilitary history of Australia during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation
The Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation was fought from 1962 to 1966 between the British Commonwealth and Indonesia. Indonesia, under President Sukarno, sought to prevent the creation of the new Federation of Malaysia that emerged in 1963, whilst the British Commonwealth sought to safeguard the...
in the Indonesian Confrontation. During this period, Australian minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
and frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s patrolled Malaysia's coastline to counter Indonesian infiltration parties traveling in small craft. These ships also bombarded Indonesian positions in East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda and Balikpapan...
near the border with Malaysia on several occasions. The RAN's experiences during this conflict led it to perceive a need for light destroyers and patrol boat
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
s tailored to confrontation-type tasks.
When the DDL project began in 1966, the ships' role was to support patrol boat
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
s during anti-infiltration operations and complement the Navy's existing destroyer force. The intenion was that the DDLs would be fast, simply armed and smaller than conventional destroyers. It was also hoped that a common DDL hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
design could be used to produce variants optimised for different roles. The RAN and British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(RN) held discussions in 1967 on jointly developing DDLs, but the RN withdrew from the project when the Australians insisted on arming the ships with United States-designed weapons.
The DDL design evolved during the late 1960s. During planning conducted in 1967 and 1968, it gradually became clear that the ships would replace rather than complement the Navy's three Daring class destroyers
Daring class destroyer (1949)
The Daring class was a class of eleven destroyers built for the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . Constructed after World War II, and entering service during the 1950s, eight ships were constructed for the RN, and three ships for the RAN. Two of the RN destroyers were subsequently sold to and...
and four early s. Accordingly, it was specified in 1969 that the DDLs would be more capable and flexible than originally intended, allowing the RAN to maintain its capabilities as the older destroyers retired. The intended roles for the DDLs' were set in 1970 by an agreement between the RAN and Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...
, which specified that the ships were to be capable of destroying equivalent surface warships, carrying out maritime interdiction
Maritime Interdiction Operations
Maritime Interdiction Operations are naval conducted operations, that aim to delay, disrupt, or destroy enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area before they do any harm against friendly forces, similar to Air Interdiction Operations....
duties, and commanding groups of patrol boats and aircraft, have reasonable anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
and anti-submarine
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
capabilities and be able to provide naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
to land forces.
The RAN originally intended to order up to ten DDLs. All the DDLs were to be built in Australia so that local shipbuilding capabilities were maintained and Australian industry was to be involved to the greatest possible extent. Production of the ships was to be evenly split between Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney and Williamstown Naval Dockyard
Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....
in Melbourne.
Design
The DDL design changed considerably over the life of the project. The initial specification was for a 1,000-ton escort vessel and in an early design the class was to have a single five inch gun as its primary armament and carry a helicopterHelicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
. When the Navy Office later prepared an initial sketch design it was for a 2,100-ton ship with a length of 335 feet (102.1 m), a beam of 40 feet (12.2 m) and a 32 knots (17.4 m/s) maximum speed. These DDLs were to be armed with two five-inch guns and operate a single light helicopter.
After preparing its initial sketch design, the Navy contracted Yarrow Admiralty Research Division
Yarrow Shipbuilders
Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...
(Y-ARD) in July 1970 to complete preliminary designs for the DDLs. As an initial stage, Y-ARD was required to develop sketch designs for six different armament configurations using a common hull. Requests for tender for studies on major sub-components were also issued in 1970, and these were completed by mid-1971.
The RAN conducted armament effectiveness studies of each of the six DDL variants in parallel with Y-ARD's development of the designs. These studies found that including an area air defence
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
capability and an ability to operate two helicopters greatly improved the DDL's effectiveness. As a result, these features were included in the Navy's specification for the DDL design, which was issued in late 1970. By this time the design had evolved to specify a general-purpose destroyer of 4,200 tons, armed with a five-inch gun and a Tartar
RIM-24 Tartar
The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile , and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships...
missile launcher, and capable of operating two helicopters. The changes increased the cost of building the ships, and the number planned was reduced to three. Nevertheless, the DDL design was considered likely to result in very capable ships, with the 1972–73 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
Jane's Fighting Ships
Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ship's names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc...
commenting favourably.
The changes to the DDL design reflected shifting requirements and poor project management by the Navy. The development of an Australian-designed ship customised for Australian conditions caused naval officers to include requirements beyond those which were essential. These changes were made without regard for costs, as the team developing the specifications were not responsible for the ships' final price and delivery schedule. The Navy's failure to maintain control of the design requirements and make cost-performance trade-offs may have been due to its limited experience in overseeing the design of new warships.
Cancellation
Despite the changes to the design and its growing costs, construction of three DDLs was approved by the Liberal PartyLiberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
McMahon Government
William McMahon
Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
in August 1972. At this time, the total project cost was estimated at A$355 million. All three ships were to be built at Williamstown Dockyard, with construction of the first ship beginning in 1975, followed by the other ships at two-yearly intervals. The first DDL was to be commissioned in 1980, and the third in 1984. Further DDLs may also have been ordered. The DDL design was not supported by the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
(ALP) opposition, however, which believed that they were too large and expensive for escort, patrol and surveillance duties.
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
that the DDL project be cancelled, and this took place in August 1973. The cost of the project to the Navy had been A$1.7 million, most of which was spent on design investigations and management consultancies.
The DDL project's problems harmed the Australian shipbuilding industry. The cancellation of both the DDLs and another project to develop a fast combat support ship
Fast combat support ship
The fast combat support ship is the United States Navy's largest combat logistics ship, designed as an oiler, ammunition and supply ship. All fast combat support ships currently in service are operated by Military Sealift Command . The AOE has the speed and armament to keep up with carrier battle...
design led to a perception that technical risks needed to be minimised when selecting new warships, and it was preferable to rely on proven foreign designs. Australian industry was also left with a bad impression as companies involved in the project had devoted considerable resources to preparing tenders for the DDL.
Type 42 destroyer
The Type 42 or Sheffield class, are guided missile destroyers used by the British Royal Navy and the Argentine Navy. The first ship of the class was ordered in 1968 and launched in 1971, and today three ships remain active in the Royal Navy and one in the Argentinian Navy...
armed with SM-1 surface to air missiles
RIM-66 Standard
The RIM-66 Standard MR is a medium range surface-to-air missile originally developed for the United States Navy . The SM-1 was developed as a replacement for the RIM-2 Terrier and RIM-24 Tartar that were deployed in the 1950s on a variety of USN ships...
. The project team found that the Type 42 was the only design capable of meeting the Navy's requirement, and stated that the Oliver Hazard Perry design was "a second rate escort that falls short of the DDL requirements on virtually every respect". Despite this, there were serious concerns over whether it would be possible to fit SM-1 missiles to the Type 42, and this led the government to approve the purchase of two Oliver Hazard Perry ships from the United States in April 1974. The DDL project was reviewed again when the Liberal Fraser Government
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
came into office, but a firm order for two Oliver Hazard Perry frigates was placed in February 1976, with a third ordered in late 1977. Six of these frigates, which were designated the , were eventually ordered, with the final two built in Australia at Williamstown.