Ship's Life Began with a Wee Dram

More than 200 years have passed since the demise of the last warship to bear the name HMS Sutherland.

And although the men of the 18th century Royal Navy would recognise the term 'frigate', the modern warship is far from a lightly-armed scout ship.

Sutherland is the 13th of the Duke-class Type 23 frigates, a ship capable of landing a significant punch and capable of much more than her original design role as an anti-submarine platform.

She is extensively automated, continuing the trend towards lean-manning in modern Navy vessels.

The weapons systems and sensors are fully computerised, as are the control systems for the main machinery, the electrical distribution system, the catering accounts and the pay and personnel records of the ship's company.

Living conditions for the ratings are comfortable, with the 57 senior ratings living in four- or six-berth cabins with separate messes and the 111 junior ratings in relatively spacious messdecks, each with its own recreational area and TV.

The ship, displacing 4,200 tonnes fully loaded, carries a reference and lending library, and training and educational resources, while a physical training specialist caters for sports and exercise both on board and when Sutherland is in port.

The frigate's range of weapons, including those carried by her helicopter, currently a Mk 8 Lynx but eventually a Merlin, will allow her to fulfill a number of roles.

Her sophisticated sonar and torpedoes make her a dangerous opponent for submarines, while the vertically-launched Seawolf missiles protect her and her consorts against incoming enemy missiles or aircraft.

She could also attack other surface targets with long-range Harpoon sea-skimming missiles, and is able to provide bombardment support for forces ashore using her 4.5in gun.

Sutherland made history on her launch day, when Lady Christina Walmsley, wife of then Controller of the Navy Sir Robert Walmsley, used a bottle of Macallan whiskey at the ceremony - RN ships have only ever been launched with champagne.

The Devonport-based ship, part of the Sixth Frigate Squadron, made her first 'home visit' three months after she was commissioned, calling at Invergordon in October last year - there is no jetty big enough to cope with her in Sutherland.

She worked up for her first BOST - basic operational sea training - in February and March of this year, and shortly after she was involved in her first major exercise, Strong Resolve 98.

The ship was the first major warship to sail under the new Skye Bridge, which she did in June, and later that month se visited the Estonian port of Tallinn.

Sutherland is now well into her first operational deployment, replacing HMS Edinburgh as Falklands Islands Guardship.

On her return next year she has a schedule of port visits which includes Barbados and Mayport, Florida, and she is due to join a major US Navy carrier battlegroup exercise at the end of the winter.

Sutherland is due back in the UK in late March.

Transatlantic Veteran

The first of the three HMS Sutherlands was actually launched as HMS Reserve at Deptford on the Thames in March 1704.

The 4th rate 54-gun vessel was renamed HMS Sutherland in 1716, but after a low-key career she ended up as a hospital ship on the Mediterranean Station, and by the time she was condemned in 1754 her successor was in service.

The new Sutherland, launched at Rotherhithe in 1741, was also a 4th rate, carrying 50 guns.

In May, 1758, a formidable fleet, including Sutherland, sailed from Canada to lay siege to Louisbourg, burning three French ships. When the town surrendered, Sutherland had her first Battle Honour.

The second honour followed soon after, when Sutherland joined the expedition against Quebec.

In early 1760 Sutherland joined a squadron sent to Canada, but with the collapse of French influence in North America the ships were released for other operation, including attacks on the French islands in the West Indies.

In 1761 Sutherland helped reinforce the Leeward Islands Station, assisting in the capture Martinique, winning the ship a third Battle Honour, and later that year she joined a fleet which attacked and captured Havana in August, 1762.

She was sold in 1770.

Facts and Figures
Class:	Type 23 frigate
Pennant Number:	F81
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow
Launched:	March 9, 1996
Commissioned:	July 4, 1997
Displacement:	3,500 tonnes
Length:	133 metres
Beam:	16 metres
Draught:	7 metres
Speed:	28 knots
Complement:	186 (18 officers)
Machinery:	CODLAG - two Rolls Royce Spey SM1C gas turbines, four Paxman 12CM diesels and two GEC electric motors.
Aircraft:	One Lynx, to be replaced by one Merlin
Weapons:	Seawolf air defence missiles, Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles, 4.5 inch Mk8 gun, Stingray torpedo system, 30mm machine guns
Sensors:	Radar 996 (3-D surveillance), Radar 1007/1008 (navigation), Radar 1010/1011 (target identification), Sonar 2050, UAT Electronic Warfare System (passive surveillance) and General Purpose Electro-Optical Director for gun control.
Affiliaitons:	The Sutherland District, Lord Strathnaver, The Highland Regiment, TS Paisley Grenville, 201 Squadron RAF
Sponsor:	Lady Christina Walmsley

(Ship of the Month December 1998)

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