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HMS Edinburgh:- Present & Past
by Lieutenant Tom McKay.
 The present HMS EDINBURGH is the
sixth warship to carry the
name EDINBURGH, the first in 1707 being a fifth rate warship
carrying only 32 guns.
The second was the forty year old WARSPITE which in 1715 was rebuilt and renamed as EDINBURGH.
She had a long and distinguished career culminating in the
award of battle honours against the French at “Ushant 1747”
and “Cape Francois 1757”.
The third EDINBURGH was a third rate of 70 guns, launched in
1811. She also had a busy career, distinguishing herself by
gaining battle honours at “Syria 1840” against the Egyptians
and in the “Baltic 1854/55” in the war against the Russians.
In 1882, a steel plated turret ship of 9,150 tons was
launched to become the fourth EDINBURGH. She was the first
battleship to carry breech loading guns and was heavily
armoured.
The last and most famous warship to bear the name was a
10,000 ton cruiser built in 1939 and sister ship to HMS
BELFAST. She played a major part in many actions during the
Second World War gaining the honour “Norway 1940/41”,
“Bismarck 1941”, “Atlantic 1941”, “Malta Convoys 1941” and
“Arctic 1941/42”. On the 30th April 1942 whilst on convoy
duty to Murmansk she was torpedoed in the Barents Sea by the
German U-boat U456.
Although seriously damaged she was taken
in tow. Later effective repairs enabled her to proceed at
slow speed under her own steam. Yet on the 2 May she was
involved in another engagement this time with a German
Destroyers and lost steerage. The engagement continued until
she was hit again by a torpedo, an hour later she had to be
abandoned. Two officers and 56 ratings were lost along with
her cargo of £5 million in gold bullion, which was en route
back to the UK as war payment. In 1981 the Ship was again in
the news when the gold onboard, then worth over £45 million,
was salvaged from her.
 The
fifth and current HMS EDINBURGH is a batch 3 type 42
Destroyer built by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders at Birkenhead.
Laid down in July 1980, she was launched by Mrs Anne
Heseltine on 14th April 1983. Displacing 4500 tons
EDINBURGH, along with her three sister ships, MANCHESTER,
YORK and GLOUCESTER has a complement of 260 Officers and
men. They are some 30 metres longer than the earlier Batch 1
and 2 Type 42s giving her improved space both internally and
externally. This also means that she has much improved sea
keeping capabilities and increased endurance.
Having entered service in 1985, the Ship only recently left
the Babcock’s Dockyards in Rosyth after completing a major
maintenance period, which updated many of her systems and
extended her operational life well into the next decade.
HMS EDINBURGH’s primary contribution is to provide air
defence to a Task Group and in particular the “high value
units” within the group. With only 10 Type 42’s remaining in
the Service and with the imminent demise of the Harrier FA2,
the RN’s area air defence capability is somewhat tinned and
the value of the T42 in UK only operations cannot be
overstated.
Although EDINBURGH is primarily an Air Defence Destroyer it
is important to remember that it has capabilities in all
major warfare disciplines. We can provide support across the
full range of military operations, from the demonstration of
“presence”, through to all out war.
 In war, our primary task is to provide an integral component
of the layered defence of any naval task group, Allied or
National. We are equipped to take control of, and direct,
fighter and tanker aircraft supporting the force. We also
aim to combine information from all of the available sensors
onboard to produce a recognised air picture, and provide
adequate warning time to support the concept of “Defence in
Depth”. Own ships sensors allow us to track and classify all
air contact in a 125,000nm area. This picture can be
integrated into the shore radar system and extended by the
use of sensors from other Ships and aircraft using data link
systems.
The Operations Room is the beating heart of a war fighting
ship. It is very manpower intensive with up to 30 operators
required when the ship is at Action Stations, ready to
fight. The 1022 radar provides the Ship with a long range
air picture while new and improved 996 radars allow for
missile detection and for fighting the medium range air
battle. Two channels of fire are provided by the powerful
Type 909 radars which will track, illuminate targets whilst
guiding Sea Dart missiles. We can also be tasked to provide
Naval Fire Support to friendly ground forces ashore with our
medium range gun. Whilst the embarked Lynx Mk III can
contribute to Anti Submarine and Surface warfare, plus
provide Search and Rescue services.
In lower intensity operations, type 42 Destroyers have been
actively involved in sanction and embargo operations
recently, both in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Our
broad ranges of sensors make us an ideal platform for
surveillance and peace support. In these operations, it is
not so much our weapons as our command and control
facilities that have proved to be invaluable. In particular,
the ability of Type 42 Destroyers to integrate with complex
communications and data link architectures of allied forces
have made Type 42’s the unit of choice for the United
Kingdom’s contribution to many multi-national tasks.
 Our force defence anti-air capability is provided by the
semi-active Sea Dart Missile system. Designed to counter the
Cold War Russian air threat, Sea Dart has limited capability
against the proliferation of modern, sea skimming anti-ship
missiles despite various enhancements such as an Infra Red
fuse and automatic target indication. The system will be
replaced with the world beating PAAMS when the Type 45
enters service from 2007. To offer increased protection
against the sea skimming missile threat, first highlighted
in the Falklands War, EDINBURGH is fitted with the Phalanx
Close in Weapon Systems. These autonomous systems are
designed to engage small, high speed sea skimming targets at
1-2 miles with a barrage 20mm ammunition fired at 4500
rounds a minute.
EDINBURGH’s primary anti-surface weapon is the Vickers Mk 8
4.5” Gun. The 4.5” gun is another battle proven but somewhat
outdated system. In recent years, considerable interest had
been shown in the guns ability to provide accurate and
reliable Naval Fire Support to forces ashore. Recent
developments have included the new Mod 1 “Kryten” Gun and
the introduction of the extended range ammunition to
increase the maximum range of the gun by several miles.
Within our overall layered defence, we also have 2 single
barrelled 20mm close range gun mountings. These weapons are
becoming increasingly important in low intensity economic
exclusion zone (EEZ) operations, where a well aimed, small
calibre “shot across the bow” can be just as effective, and
more politically acceptable, than heavy-handed use of the
4.5” gun.
 The last twelve months has seen EDINBURGH emerge from the
dockyards of Rosyth after a major overhaul and maintenance
period. This meant that the Ship was ready to face the new
challenges of the Twenty First century. However, before she
was able to return to Frontline operations the ship was
required to complete a number of sea trials to ensure all
systems were performing to their specifications. Post trials
in early 2006 EDINBURGH arrived in Devonport to conduct Sea
Training under the auspices of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).
FOST is responsible for providing cradle to grave training
for the Royal Navy. This ensures continuity of training from
acceptance into the Fleet right through until final
decommissioning. Therefore, EDINBURGH commenced Basic
Operational Sea Training (BOST) in January 2006. Sea
training focused on all aspects of the Ship going well
beyond its war fighting capability. One area that continues
to provide real challenges to all ships’ companies is that
of Battle Damage Repair (BDR). All personnel are trained and
regularly exercised in BDR to counter action damage or
peacetime emergencies. HMS NOTTINGHAM’s misfortune off
Australia in 2002 provided proof that accidents are always
possible. Yet the valuable training provided to the Royal
Navy by FOST means that loss of life and equipment can be
greatly reduced and incidents managed well to allow units to
survive and fight another day.
On completed of BOST the ship then took part in Exercise
NEPTUNE’s WARRIOR off the West Coast of Scotland. This was a
scenario based multination tri-service exercise that lasted
for two weeks. It gave the Ship the opportunity to put into
practice and build on training already received. It is now
at this point you find EDINBURGH, Scotland’s Capital Ship,
back in the Front Line after 20 months ready to undertake
operational tasking.
HMS EDINBURGH A WORLD CLASS DESTROYER
READY TO FIGHT AND WIN
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