Royal Navy's First Type 31 Frigate Rolled Out

The future HMS Venturer, the Royal Navy’s first-in-class Type 31 frigate, was today rolled out of the construction shed at Babcock International’s shipyard in Rosyth, Scotland.

The lead ship of the Inspiration-class, the next-generation frigate emerged from the build hall for the first time prior to her scheduled float off in the days ahead.

Eight engines were needed to power the low-loader that rolled out HMS Venturer — a ship longer than more than 11 London buses — on no fewer than 960 tyres in front of the proud Babcock workforce who had assembled to watch the spectacle.

Once afloat, the frigate will be transferred into a nearby dry dock where her fitting-out process will continue. Speaking to Navy Leaders, Sir Nick Hine, Babcock Marine CEO, described the milestone as “a great day: a great day for me, a great day for Babcock, a great day for Scotland, a great day for U.K. shipbuilding.”

He added: “We hope to have her fitted out and started commission about this time next year.”

Expanding on the wider Type 31 programme, he explained: “The contract award was in late 2019; you can see Venturer, the first platform here, and we will deliver five of these ships to the Royal Navy in ten years from contract award: that’s an unheard-of drumbeat of delivery.”

“Boat two, Active, you’ll see roll-out later in the year.”

Sir Nick added that parts of boat three would be transferred into the yard extremely rapidly too. He stressed: “We’re not wasting any time here: we’ll get Venturer away and into dock and then we’ll have Formidable in the shed by the end of the week.”

He concluded: “The Type 31, the Arrowhead 140 here is more available, more affordable, more adaptable: that’s why we built it.”

Venturer’s Arrowhead 140 design is an evolution of the Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates in service with the Danish Navy. At just under 140 metres long, she has a 5,700-tonne displacement and will be able to achieve a maximum speed of roughly 26 knots.

Her construction has required 26,000 metres of pipe — that's almost three times the height of Everest  — and enough cable to run the length of Loch Ness ten times over. She’s also covered in about 5,000 litres of paint.

In service, she will be operated by a crew of around 100-120, with additional space for a further 40 personnel. As Commander Chris Cozens, the HMS Venturer’s Senior Naval Officer, has previously noted: “A broad statistic that we've figured out is that we're 60% larger in size, as in tonnage and physical size to a Type 23, but we will be operating with about 60% of the ship's company.”

A flight deck on the stern of the Inspiration Class ships provides the capability to operate with a Merlin or Wildcat helicopter. Each Type 31 frigate offers 119 sq m of mission space, which can accommodate up to six 20ft ISO containers, allowing the frigates to change its capabilities to suit the mission.

The Type 31 frigates will feature a sophisticated combat system that includes the Sea Ceptor missile system, while boat bays will allow them to launch and recover PAC-24 boats to support boarding operations, anti-narcotics and piracy missions, as well as providing assistance to other maritime craft.

Once commissioned into active service, the general-purpose frigates will be deployed globally to undertake all manner of roles from counter-piracy and maritime security operations to humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions.

HMS Venturer is the first of five planned Type 31 ships; the second, the future HMS Active, is already under construction, with Formidable, Bulldog and Campbeltown to follow. All five vessels are scheduled to enter service with the Royal Navy by the early 2030s.

• Download our free “Frigates Of The Future” report featuring an in-depth interview with Cdr. Cozens