According to a Royal Navy press release, HMS Sutherland has returned to sea after undergoing nearly four years of extensive life-extension upgrades at Devonport dockyard.
The Type 23 frigate, known as ‘The Fighting Clan’, will now begin sea trials and training before rejoining the Royal Navy fleet for front-line operations, particularly submarine-hunting missions in the North Atlantic.
The overhaul was carried out by defence contractor Babcock and included significant structural upgrades and system enhancements designed to extend the ship’s service life into the mid-2030s, ensuring it remains operational alongside its sister ships.
The upgrades involved more than 800 inserts and 11,500 weld repairs, with over five kilometres of welding performed throughout the refit.
Commander James Wallington-Smith, HMS Sutherland’s Commanding Officer, praised the combined effort between the ship’s company and Babcock: “HMS Sutherland has benefitted from a significant modernisation and extension of key weapons, sensors, and equipment in this extensive refit. This accomplishment is down to the hard graft and considerable efforts of both the ship’s company and Babcock working closely together to deliver success.”
Key upgrades included the installation of the 2150 sonar system, which required the removal of the sonar bow dome in a complex lifting operation. The Sea Ceptor missile system, which has already been proven in combat scenarios, was also added, making Sutherland the final Type 23 frigate to receive the advanced missile capability. HMS Richmond recently demonstrated the effectiveness of Sea Ceptor by successfully downing drones during operations in the Gulf.
Entire sections of the ship were deconstructed and rebuilt to accommodate upgrades to engines, generators, and machinery controls, including new diesel generator and motor generator sets, forward and aft switchboards, and several miles of new pipework and cabling.
Before returning to sea, a handover ceremony took place onboard the ship, marking the successful completion of the upgrade program. Sir Nick Hine, Chief Executive of Babcock’s Marine Sector, praised the team’s efforts: “After a significant upkeep programme, it is fantastic to see HMS Sutherland starting sea trials and well on her way to achieving full capability before re-joining the fleet.”
He added, “Our team has provided trusted expertise, utilising our long-standing through-life support experience to ready the ship before she recommences her journey to support the nation’s defence.”
No mention of NSM being fitted, which is rather disapointing.
Agreed it would be the ideal opportunity to add it. Perhaps tgey did… or they intend to add it after trials. It does however mark the full retirement of Sea Wolf…
Apparently she has been upgraded to take NSM that will be fitted at a latter date. I suspect after sea trials.
So sold to Brazil next year for £2M?
You beat me to it.
Heroic work by Babcock – kudos. NLO article predicting float out of Venturer by May. RN escort fleet management is nail biting stuff. Good to know the Dunkerque spirit is still alive….would be nice to avoid crises by more prudent planning though 😂
On a positive note the RN has an upgraded ship and extra hull at sea. On the downside this shows how costly delaying the T26/T31 ships has been.
Listing all the repairs, upgrades etc, it immediately reminded me of “Trigger’s” broom 😀😀
That will have cost 1/2 the money a whole new T31 hull would have cost.
OK T31 isn’t ASW and doesn’t have electric drive.
Essentially all the money it would have cost to build T32, buy Mk41 VLS for everything with missiles, MRSS and running the Albions has been eaten by LIFEX on T23.
Some of the LIFEXs have had to be abandoned part done.
I’d estimated that the LIFEX program has eaten North of £1.2Bn in todays money all in all.
That is the same as the initial cost of the T31 program….and that is before we get to PiP…
Quicker to LIFEX than wait for new frigates
Four year refit to add perhaps at a maximum 10 years service life 😬
Still be a capable ship, but it staggers me were at the point where a four year refit is the most time effective to get a small frigate on the roster.
How long does it take to build a new one? Oh wait. We’ve tripped our build times due to drip feeding payments associated with build.