Tribals versus Frigates

Vincent J. Curtis

10 Feb 2019


Vice Admiral “Hard-over” Harry DeWolf is Canada’s most accomplished sailor.  He earned his nickname while skipper of HMCS Haida and operated in the English Channel in support of Operation Overlord.  The Haida was a Tribal-class destroyer with a top speed of 36 knots.  DeWolf had a penchant for ordering high-speed maneuvers that caused the ship to lean heavily while turning.  Tribal class destroyers operated in the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the English Channel as submarine hunters, escort vessels, and against German E-boat surface raiders.


Admiral DeWolf would struggle to earn his nickname today if he skippered one of the Type 26 frigates. These are to become the primary combatant vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy.  These frigates have a top speed of only 26 knots, three knots slower than the Halifax class frigates they will replace.

At 26 knots, the Type 26 frigate is more a luxury yacht than a warship.

At 26 knots, a Type 26 could not serve as an escort vessel for a Nimitz class aircraft carrier (30 kt), an Iowa class battleship (33 kt), or an Arleigh Burke class destroyer (30 kt).  It might detect, but could not catch, a Virginia class nuclear submarine (25 kt).  It couldn’t catch the German battleships Graf Spee (29 kt), the Scharnhorst (31 kt), or the Bismarck (30 kt).  It can keep up with the new Queen Elizabeth class of British aircraft carrier (25 kt).

For a frigate, the Type 26 is simply too slow.

The intended role of the Type 26 is anti-submarine. But for this purpose it is curiously unarmed.  It has no specified anti-submarine weaponry organic to it.  It is planned to carry two helicopters which – when they can fly - will carry either two or four anti-submarine torpedoes (depending on the type).  Otherwise, the main armament planned for the frigate consists of vertical launch missile systems, both anti-ship and Tomahawk type cruise missiles.  It sports a single 5 inch BAE Mk 45 gun and several smaller calibre auto-cannons for close-in anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense.  The helicopters are British types.

In comparison, Tribal class destroyers bristled with weaponry.  This included four 21 inch torpedo tubes and 20 depth charges.

The expression “gun-boat diplomacy” was coined not just from the destruction the warships involved inflicted, but because of the destruction they obviously could inflict.  Battle and the threat of battle are what move the enemy, Clausewitz says.  Gun boats carried many menacing looking long barrel, large calibre guns in multiple turrets.  The gun armament of a Tribal class destroyer looks menacing for a vessel of its size, and certainly looks more dangerous than a single gun in a single turret.  Canada will not be able to look menacing with a Type 26 frigate even though it is triple the displacement of a Tribal class destroyer.  The frigate’s weaponry being largely invisible, the lack of menace with a Type 26 leaves a chasm between peace and all-out war.

The VLS systems make the frigates a potent means of delivering precision fire on the enemy, both on fixed targets far inland and on surface vessels, if it sees them first.  It looks designed to operate with a British led task force in the North Atlantic, whatever that is supposed to do nowadays.  The Germans are on our side, and the Russians would have to face-off against the Americans should matters in Europe come to a head.

The real threat today lies in the Pacific, against China.  To be relevant and credible, the RCN needs to be able to operate with the U.S. Navy, and for that these frigates need more speed.

Their problem is that they are too broad across the beam.  They displace 8,000 tons, are 492 feet long, and a fat 68 feet across the beam.  The Tribals were 377 feet long, a slim 36 feet 6 inches across the beam, and displaced 2550 tons.

Lack of speed is the great weakness of the Type 26.  The Tribals were better physical specimens of a warship.
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