Royal Navy Tribal Class Frigates: A Comprehensive Guide
The Tribal class frigates, officially designated as Type 81, were a small class of general-purpose frigates built for the Royal Navy in the late 1950s and 1960s. Designed for patrol and escort duties in overseas territories, particularly in the Persian Gulf and the Far East, they combined modest armament with good range and accommodation standards.
Only seven ships were built, but they served extensively in the Cold War and were the last Royal Navy warships to bear the proud Tribal names first used by destroyers in the early twentieth century.
Origins and Design Development
The Type 81 Tribal class originated from the need for a versatile, affordable frigate that could perform multiple tasks in areas such as the Persian Gulf, Caribbean and Mediterranean. These ships were designed to replace older sloops and frigates used for colonial policing duties while still having the ability to operate in NATO task forces.
At 2,300 tonnes full load and 360 feet in length, they were smaller than frontline destroyers but more comfortable and capable than earlier frigates. They carried a steam turbine and a gas turbine together, in the Combined Steam and Gas arrangement usually shortened to COSAG, giving a top speed of 27 knots on a single shaft.
One Shaft, and Two Ways of Turning It
The machinery is the interesting part of these ships and it needs describing properly. There were no diesels in a Type 81. COSAG means combined steam and gas: a steam turbine of about 12,500 horsepower for ordinary running, and a Metrovick G6 gas turbine of 7,500 that could be clutched in on top of it, twenty thousand horsepower between them.
The reason for the arrangement is entirely practical. A steam plant is economical and it takes hours to raise steam from cold. A gas turbine is thirsty and starts in minutes. A frigate whose whole job is to sit quietly on a foreign station for weeks and then be somewhere else quickly wants both, and the Tribals were among the first British ships built round that idea. HMS Ashanti (F117) was the first to take it to sea.
And all of it went to one shaft. A single screw, in a warship, in 1961. Almost nothing else in the post-war fleet did that apart from the cut-price Type 14s, and it is a genuine limitation rather than a quirk: a ship with two shafts that loses one can still steam, and a ship with one that loses it cannot. It was accepted because these were colonial policing ships, not fleet units, and because it made them cheap.
The ships were easily recognisable thanks to their large funnels and uncluttered deck layout, which gave them a distinctive profile.
Ships of the Class
A total of seven Tribal class frigates were built:
HMS Tartar (F133)
Design and Technical Features
The Tribal class were lightly armed compared to contemporary frigates, but their design was well-suited to patrol roles.
Displacement: 2,300 tonnes full load.
Length: 360 feet.
Propulsion: COSAG. One steam turbine of about 12,500shp and one Metrovick G6 gas turbine of 7,500shp, 20,000shp in all, driving a single shaft. 27 knots
Armament (as built): Twin 4.5-inch gun turret forward, Seacat surface-to-air missile system, Limbo anti-submarine mortar.
Aircraft Facilities: Flight deck and hangar for a Wasp helicopter, which greatly improved their anti-submarine capability.
Crew: Around 253 officers and ratings.
Despite their modest armament, their helicopter capability gave them a modern edge in anti-submarine warfare.
Service and Operations
The Tribal class saw extensive service in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in overseas stations. They were regulars in the Persian Gulf, Caribbean, and Mediterranean, supporting British foreign policy during a time of decolonisation and Cold War rivalry.
Their Seacat missiles provided limited air defence, but their main value was as patrol and escort ships. HMS Mohawk and HMS Tartar were among those deployed on NATO operations, while others conducted long-term deployments in the Indian Ocean.
What Seven Small Frigates Actually Did
All seven have an account on this site, and between them they cover most of what the Royal Navy was actually doing outside home waters in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Beira Patrol. HMS Eskimo (F119) and HMS Mohawk (F125) both took turns blockading the Mozambique Channel to stop oil reaching Ian Smith's Rhodesia, which ran for nine years and is exactly the sort of long, static, unglamorous commitment a small economical frigate exists for. Eskimo was then caught out by the Six Day War closing the Suez Canal underneath her.
The Cod Wars. Two of them went north and both were rammed. HMS Gurkha (F122) took one collision from an Icelandic gunboat; HMS Tartar (F133) took two in the Third Cod War alone.
And the odder jobs. HMS Nubian (F131) guarded a transatlantic air race and then spent weeks off Brittany helping clean up the wreck of the Amoco Cadiz, still France's worst oil spill. HMS Zulu (F124) fired what is generally reckoned to be the last full broadside in Royal Navy history.
By the late 1970s, the class was considered under-armed compared to newer frigates such as the Leander class. They were gradually phased out of frontline service, with three transferred to Indonesia, where they went on serving into the twenty-first century.
Brought Back for the Falklands, Then Sold
Three of them, HMS Gurkha (F122), HMS Tartar (F133) and HMS Zulu (F124), had already been laid up when Argentina invaded the Falklands. All three were reactivated out of mothballs in 1982 to cover for ships sent south, which is about as clear a statement as the Royal Navy ever makes that it has cut too deep: the ships it had declared surplus four years earlier were the only reserve it had.
They were sold to Indonesia in 1984, refitted at Vosper Shiprepairers and commissioned between 1985 and 1986 as the Tiyahahu class: Zulu became KRI Martha Khristina Tiyahahu, Gurkha became KRI Wilhelmus Zakarias Yohannes and Tartar became KRI Hasanuddin. They went on serving into the twenty-first century, which is longer than they managed under the White Ensign.
Legacy and Replacement
The Tribal class represented a transitional stage in Royal Navy frigate design. Although only seven were built, they demonstrated the value of helicopters at sea and the importance of multi-role capabilities.
Their modest size and relatively short service life meant they were quickly overshadowed by the more versatile Leander class.
Nevertheless, the Tribal name continued a proud tradition in Royal Navy history and linked the frigates of the Cold War with the famous destroyers of the Second World War.
The Seven Ships
HMS Ashanti (F117), the first Royal Navy ship to sea with combined steam and gas. HMS Eskimo (F119), Beira Patrol and then stranded by the closure of Suez. HMS Gurkha (F122), rammed in the Cod Wars.
HMS Mohawk (F125), Rhodesian oil blockade and the search for a lost trawler. HMS Nubian (F131), an air race and the Amoco Cadiz. HMS Tartar (F133), rammed twice in the Third Cod War. HMS Zulu (F124), the last full broadside the Royal Navy ever fired.
Gurkha, Tartar and Zulu were reactivated for the Falklands in 1982 and sold to Indonesia in 1984. The other four were disposed of at home.
Cheap, Comfortable and Built for a Job That Ended
The Tribal class frigates were versatile patrol and escort ships, designed for a Royal Navy that was shrinking in size but still required a global presence. Though lightly armed, they proved effective in overseas roles and helped pioneer the integration of helicopters into small warships.
Their legacy lies not only in their service but also in their continuation of the Tribal names, which remain iconic in Royal Navy history.
You Might Also Like
Prints of the Tribal Class Frigates
Every print is made to order in the UK, with free UK delivery.
Lee writes the ship histories and fleet features for Hampshire Prints. He served in the Royal Navy, and some of the modern fleet photographs on this site are his own, taken from the Portsmouth shoreline.
More about Lee
Leave a comment