HMS Exmouth (F84)

HMS "Exmouth", pennant number F84, was a Royal Navy anti-submarine warfare frigate of the "Blackwood" or Type 14 class.

"Exmouth" became the first major warship to be powered by gas turbine engines alone when, in 1966, she was taken in hand and was refitted with a combined gas or gas (COGOG) arrangement. The main reason behind the conversion of "Exmouth" was to trial the (then) new Marine Olympus which had been selected as the turbine for the Type 82 destroyer and the Type 19 high-speed anti-submarine frigate. Therefore, she was fitted with a Bristol Siddeley Olympus TM1 of 24,000 shp (limited to 15,000 shp due to gearbox and shaft limitations) for full power and two Bristol Siddeley Proteus 10M (3,500 shp each) for fuel-efficient cruising. These engines drove the single shaft through a common gearbox. The Proteus engines could work alone or together, but could not be run with together with the Olympus. As the engines could not run in reverse, a reversible-pitch propeller was installed. As the engines could be controlled directly from throttles on the bridge, bridge steering was fitted. The requisite air intakes and filters were grouped amidships and the turbine uptakes exhausted into a common, streamlined funnel, completely changing "Exmouth"'s appearance. The exhaust and intake trunking was also utilised to allow the removal of complete engines, giving a rapid 24-hour exchange time.

"Exmouth" rejoined the fleet on June 5 1968, and during the 1970's she carried out extended trials to validate the feasibility of all-gas turbine propulsion. The foresight of her conversion was illustrated when after only 64 hours of running, an entire ring of Olympus turbine blades failed. Her test cruisers took her to the Mediterranean Sea, where she took part in various trials and exercises based at Malta. She proceeded to Crete which made her the only Type 14 to get this far east. She acted as plane guard for HMS "Ark Royal" and was involved in the search for survivors when a Russian destroyer lost 3 men overboard when making a close pass ahead of "Ark Royal" whilst the latter was at flying stations (the men were never found). She eventually returned to her home base port of Chatham in Kent. She then went to the Isle of Portland as a day runner in the 2nd Frigate Squadron, providing support for ships working-up under Flag Officer Sea Training. This was to prove her propulsion in a stop/start scenario - basically press the button, start the engines and sail - which was much less time consuming than flashing up a steam plant.

The trials were ultimately successful, and allowed the trouble-free introduction of the Olympus into naval service in the Type 42 destroyer and the Type 21 and two batches of Type 22 frigates. The Olympus was also an export success, and "Exmouth"'s COGOG arrangement was also widely emulated. "Exmouth" was broken up in 1979.

References

"The Blackwood class," Type 14 "Second Rate Frigates", George Moore, in Warship 2001-2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, ISBN 0-85177-901-8