Editing County-class destroyer (section)

{{short description |Class of British warships}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{ distinguish | County-class cruiser }}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
| sclass = 2
}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = HMS Kent, Portsmouth Navy Yards, July 1989.jpg
| Ship caption = HMS ''Kent'' at Portsmouth in 1989
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
| Name = 
| Builders =
* [[Cammell Laird]]
* [[Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company|Fairfields Shipbuilding]]
* [[Harland & Wolff]]
* [[John Brown & Company|John Brown]]
* [[Swan Hunter]]
* [[Upper Clyde Shipbuilders]]
* [[Vickers-Armstrongs]]
| Operators =
* {{navy|United Kingdom}}
* {{navy|Chile}}
* {{navy|Pakistan}}
| Class before = {{sclass|Daring|destroyer (1949)|4}}
| Class after = [[Type 82 destroyer|Type 82]]
| Subclasses =
* Batch 1
* Batch 2
| Cost = 
| Built range = 
| In service range = 
| In commission range = 16 November 1962 – 22 September 2006
| Total ships completed = 8
| Total ships cancelled = 2{{sfnp|Brown|Moore|2003}}
| Total ships laid up = 2 <!-- *[[HMS Antrim (D18)|''Almirante Cochrane'']] ex ''Antrim''
* [[HMS Norfolk (D21)|''Capitán Prat'']] ex ''Norfolk'' -->
| Total ships lost = 0 <!-- *[[HMS Devonshire (D02)|HMS ''Devonshire'']] (as target)
* [[HMS Glamorgan (D19)|''Almirante Latorre'']] (accident on way to scrap) -->
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type = [[Destroyer]]
| Ship displacement = 6,200 [[long ton|tons]]
| Ship length = {{convert|520|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|54|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = {{convert|21|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship power = 
| Ship propulsion =
* [[Combined steam and gas|COSAG]] on 2 shafts;
* 2× [[Babcock & Wilcox boiler]]s, geared steam turbines, {{convert|30000|shp|abbr=on|lk=in}}
* 4× [[Metropolitan-Vickers|Metrovick]] G6 gas turbines, 30,000&nbsp;shp
| Ship speed = {{convert|30|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship range = {{convert|3500|nmi|lk=in}}
| Ship endurance = 
| Ship complement = 471 (33 officers, 438 ratings)
| Ship sensors = Type 903 radar ([[MRS-3]] [[fire-control system|system]])
| Ship EW = 
| Ship armament =
* 2× fore-mounted twin-gunned turret with [[QF 4.5 inch Mk I – V naval gun|4.5-inch (113&nbsp;mm) guns Mark N6]] (Batch 2's turret "B" was later replaced by 4× [[Exocet|MM38 Exocet]] missile launchers)
* 2× mountings for [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]
* 1× aft-mounted [[Seaslug missile|Seaslug GWS.1 or GWS.2]] surface to air missile system (24 missiles)
* 2× mountings (port & starboard) for [[Seacat (missile)#GWS-22|Seacat GWS-22]] SAM
* 2× triple-tube launchers for shipborne torpedoes
| Ship armour = 
| Ship aircraft = 1× [[Westland Wessex|Wessex HAS Mk 3]] helicopter
| Ship aircraft facilities = [[Flight deck]] and enclosed [[hangar]] for embarking one helicopter
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

The '''County class''' was a class of British [[guided missile destroyer]]s, the first such warships built by the [[Royal Navy]]. Designed specifically around the [[Seaslug (missile)|Seaslug]] [[anti-aircraft]] missile system, the primary role of these ships was area air defence around the [[aircraft carrier]] task force in the nuclear-war environment.<ref name= RINApaper1974 >Purvis,M.K., 'Post War RN Frigate and Guided Missile Destroyer Design 1944–1969', Transactions, Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), 1974</ref><ref name=MarriottBook >Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', {{ISBN|0-7110-1817-0}}, Ian Allan Ltd, 1989</ref>

Eight ships were built and entered service. Two served in the [[British naval forces in the Falklands War|British naval task force]] in the [[Falklands War]] in 1982. After leaving British service, four ships were sold to the Chilean Navy and one to the Pakistan Navy.