Description
At the time of the October War, the Royal Navy had a total of 19 war-built Battle-class destroyers in service or in reserve, six of which had been converted into radar pickets. When the 1963 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement was signed in December '63, it allowed for the production of RIM-2 Terrier and RIM-24 Tartar naval SAM's in the UK under licence. As both weapons were much lighter and less complicated than the British GWS-1 Sea Slug, they could be fitted to a much wider variety of ships. Tartar was selected to arm the Battle-class ships.
Seventeen Battle-class ships - Agincourt, Alamein, Armada, Barfleur, Barrosa, Camperdown, Corunna, Dunkirk, Finisterre, Jutland, Lagos, Matapan, Mons, Saintes, Solebay, Trafalgar & Vigo - were slated for the Tartar conversion. Two of the DDR conversions, Aisne and Talavera, had been lost in the Mediterranean by the time conversions started in 1964. The conversion involved enclosing the bridge, considered essential in the post-October War world as pockets of fallout still hung over some areas of the globe; fitting the unconverted ships with the same new masts and deckhouses as the DDR conversions to house electronics and operators; and a new, extensive deckhouse aft to house a Tartar magazine to supply the Mark 13 single-arm launcher. Other weapons included Sea Cat and the Sea Lance anti-suip missile, the latter taking the place of one of the 4.5" gun turrets.
Specifications (post-conversion):
Class and type: Battle-class guided missile destroyer
Displacement: 2,480 tons standard
Length: 379 ft (116 m) o/a
Beam: 40 ft 6 in (12.34 m)
Draught: 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Propulsion: two Admiralty three-drum boilers, Parsons geared turbines, twin screws
Installed power: 50,000 hp (37 MW)
Speed: 35.75 knots (66.21 km/h)
Complement: 268
Sensors:
1 × Type 965 air-surveillance radar with outfit AKE(1) aerial
1 × Type 993 surface search/target-indication radar
1 × Type 278 height finding radar
1 × Type 974 navigation radar
1 × MRS.3 fire-control system (4.5" guns)
1 × AN/SPG-51 fire-control radar (Tartar)
2 × Type 262 Close Range Blind Fire directors (Sea Cat)
1 × Type 174/177 medium range search sonar
1 × Type 170 attack sonar
Armament:
2 × QF 4.5-inch (113 mm) Mk. III guns in single twin mounting BD Mark IV
2 × Oerlikon 20 mm guns
1 × RIM-24C Tartar medium-range SAM
4 × Sea Lance anti-ship missiles in box launchers
2 × GWS-21 quadruple Sea Cat point defence SAM launchers
1 × Squid triple depth charge mortar
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You can see the rest of the stuff in this AU here: Timeline 27-10-1962