1973 HMS AMBUSCADE. One of the Amazon-class Type 21 frigates built for the Royal Navy from 1969, which made extensive use of aluminium and were powered exclusively by gas turbine engines.
THE AMAZON CLASS
In the mid-] 960s, commercial shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft and Yarrow claimed they could produce a better ship than the broad beam Leanders then in construction for the Royal Navy, For 3.5m instead of 5m. In fact the leader of the new class, HMS Amazon ended up costing 14.5m, and the design proved to be too cramped to be re-configured with new weapons systems and thus not worth re-fitting in mid-life, as was usual. Worse still, the aluminium superstructure proved to be a major fire hazard and the class was the only one to make use of the material for structural purposes. Sister-ships Ardent and Antelope were lost in the Falklands War.
GAS-TURBINE MACHINERY
HMS Ambuscade was constructed by Yarrow yard; laid down on 1 September 1971, she was launched on 18 January 1973 and completed on 5 September 1975. She was sold to Pakistan in 1993 (along with all the other surviving members of the class) and served as the Tariq. She was powered exclusively by gas turbine engines 2 Rolls-Royce Tynes producing a total of 8500shp for economical running at up to 17 knots, and two Olympus engines, as originally developed for the Avro Vulcan bomber aircraft, which drove the ship along at her top speed of 30 knots when required.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Guided-missile frigate
Machinery: 2-shaft COGOG; 2 RR Olympus giving 56,000shp; 2 RR Tyne giving 8500shp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 117m (384ft); beam 12.7m (41 .75ft)
Displacement: 3050t standard; 3550t deep load
Draught: 5.8m (1 91t)
Complement: 175-192
