Editing County-class destroyer (section)

==Design==
[[File:HMS London, 1971 (IWM).jpg|thumb|''London'' leads ''Antrim'' and ''Norfolk'' during exercises in 1971]]

The County class was designed around the [[Seaslug missile|GWS1 Seaslug]] [[beam riding]] anti-aircraft missile system. Seaslug was a first-generation [[surface-to-air missile]] intended to hit high-flying nuclear-armed bombers and surveillance aircraft like the [[Tupolev Tu-16|Tupolev Tu-16 "Badger"]] and [[Tupolev Tu-95|Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear"]], which could direct strikes against the British fleet from missile destroyers and cruise missile-armed submarines. The Tu 95 and the improved [[Tupolev Tu-142]] were demanding targets for a missile like Seaslug; the long-range Soviet turboprop aircraft flew at an altitude of {{convert|7.5|mi|ft m|abbr=on}}, at {{convert|572|mph|abbr=on}}<ref>Gunston, B. ''The Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft, 1875–1975''. Motorbooks International, (rep Osprey, Reed, ed), WI, USA (2005) p. 425.</ref> and were barely within the engagement capability of Seaslug.{{sfn|Wise| 2007 |p= 20}} In 1956 during the first integrated trials of Sea Slug on HMS ''Girdle Ness'' cancellation of Seaslug was considered. The RAF found Seaslug could not cover low and high level targets and was only marginally capable on subsonic targets at 3–10 miles and height of 1–7 miles, and not effective against modern [[V Bomber]], [[English Electric Canberra]] and Soviet Il-28 type aircraft which were likely to be used in a 1956 Suez confrontation.{{sfn|Wise|2007|pp= 19-20, 26-27}} The missile was obsolete in many Admirals and MPs views compared the USN Terrier missile, the RAF Bristol Bloodhound and the British Army's Thunderbird semi-active homing missiles in service by 1958. CNS, Mountbatten and Vice Admiral Reid, saw it as 'deplorable' that Sea Slug was so far behind due to the lack of engineers and higher priority for Korea but it was essential to Royal Navy and UK credibility and independence to  continue with Sea Slug.{{sfn|Wise| 2007 |p= 19}} A new British missile or adoption of the Terrier Mk11 or Thunderbird would take too long.{{sfn|Wise| 2007 |pp= 19-20}} The improved Mark 2 version of Seaslug had 10,000&nbsp;ft (3000 m) greater altitude and speed.

The Seaslug system was a large weapon. Each missile was {{convert|6|m|ftin|abbr=on}} long and weighed two tons; its handling arrangements and electronics systems were also large; so even fitting a single system aboard a ship the size of the Counties was a challenge. The missiles were stowed horizontally in a long unarmoured magazine which was sited above the waterline and took up a great deal of internal space. The risk of fire near the magazine was checked by an automatic sprinkler system.{{sfnp|Moore|2005|page=129}} In order to increase the number of missiles that could be carried, on the last four ships, some of the missiles were stored partly disassembled in the forward end of the magazine. Their wings and fins would be reattached before being moved into the aft sections of the handling spaces and eventually loaded onto the large twin launcher for firing.

The limitations of the beam riding guidance method and lack of a homing head, meant the Mk 1 and 2 Seaslug were intended to have nuclear variants - the much larger blast compensating for lack of accuracy. However nuclear warhead for Mk 1 Seaslug (for the first group of ships) was dropped as it needed extra crew, space and security which were not available on the smaller hull; development of the nuclear warhead for Seaslug on the second group of ships was cancelled in June 1962,<ref>{{citation |first=R. |last=Moore |title=Nuclear. Illusion and Nuclear Reality. Britain, the United States and Nuclear Weapons 1958–1964 |publisher=Palgrave |location= London |date=2010 |page= 222}}</ref> to reduce the naval budget, and the RNs requirement below 334 tactical nuclear warheads.

The County-class and the Seaslug missile were interim solutions and the new [[Sea Dart]] anti-aircraft missile would have speed and accuracy to ensure a hit without requiring a nuclear warhead. Mountbatten doubted the usefulness of tactical nuclear weapons by 1962, due to escalation theories, scientific advice and greater evidence of fallout consequences, leading to the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] in 1963. There were also staff and space difficulties with carrying nuclear warheads on confined destroyers.{{sfnp|Mountbatten|1989 }} As early as 1952, Air Chief Marshal [[John Slessor]] ([[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]]) the most influential defence Advisor to Winston Churchill considered the Navy irrelevant in a nuclear war,{{sfn|Seldon |1981|pp=334-5}} he first defined, the role of RN was "uncertain"{{sfn|Seldon |1981|pp=334-5}}  as a pretext to maintain a large fleet and required only for political reasons. The [[Suez Crisis|collapse of the 1956 Suez operation]] and the huge impact of the [[British hydrogen bomb programme|British hydrogen bomb tests]] in 1954-57<ref>G. Freudenberg. Churchill & Australia. Macmillan. Sydney (2008) p 529-30</ref>{{sfn|Seldon |1981|pp=314-16, 334-5}} led to the [[1957 Defence White Paper|1957 review of Britain's defences]], reliance on nuclear deterrence by strategic aircraft, missiles and missile submarines and doubt that a nuclear war would last long enough to require trans-Atlantic convoys. Corresponding doubt whether major conventional war was still possible on the basis of the last 1954-5 HC speeches of Churchill<ref>Freudenberg. Churchill & Australia(2008)p529-30</ref>{{sfn|Seldon|1981|pp=314-16, 334-5}} and Eisenhower, justified large cutbacks of British and American large ship, destroyer and carrier programmes<ref>{{cite book |first=N. |last=Friedman |title= The Royal Navy, 1930-2000: Innovation and Defence: Innovation and Defense|editor-first=R. |editor-last=Harding |publisher=Frank Cass |date=2005 |page= 249|isbn=978-0714685816}}</ref> and the future role and relevance of the Royal Navy was "unclear"<ref>"Statement on Defence 1957. Future Options". HMSO. 15 March 1957, p 7-8, s15</ref> moving the RN to more limited [[East of Suez]] task forces with gun and Seaslug- and Seacat-armed destroyers escorting medium British aircraft carriers with only a limited nuclear strike capacity against ships and cities equipped with [[Blackburn Buccaneer]] S.1 (and then the improved S.2) strike aircraft mainly aimed to deter regional powers such as Indonesia.<ref>{{citation |first=Edward |last=Hampshire |title=British Guided missile Destroyers: County-class, Type 42, Type 82 and Type 45 |date=2016 |series=New Vanguard 234 |publisher=Osprey }}</ref> Early versions of the equivalent US missile system [[RIM-2 Terrier]], like Seaslug, relied on beam riding and needed a nuclear warhead variant to compensate for inaccuracy at low level and range. However, by 1962, the US was concentrating on the medium range radar guided [[RIM-24 Tartar]] and long range [[RIM-8 Talos]], which had success against long range North Vietnamese aircraft from 1968.<ref>S. Tindle "USS Long Beach. The Last Cruiser" ''Ships Monthly'' August 2018, p. 40.</ref> The Royal Air Force's semi-active land-based [[Bristol Bloodhound]] was unrelated to Seaslug development, but drew top scientists away from RN work.

The County-class design attempted to give maximum protection from nuclear fallout. The operation rooms, where the ship was fought from, was located deep in the ship five decks below the bridge with a lift connecting it to the latter,{{sfnp|Marland|2016|page=77}} which maintained some duplicated command systems. The operations room had the main radar, sonar and electronic warfare screens, and communication data and computer links. The electronics required for the Seaslug were the large [[Type 901 radar|Type 901 fire-control radar]] and the [[Type 965 radar|Type 965 air-search radar]]. These required a great deal of weight to be carried high up on the ship which affected the ship layout. Although superior the [[Type 984 radar]]  was rejected as it was even heavier and would excluded fitting a twin turret 4.5-inch armament forward which was needed for gunfire support or action against surface vessels. It was hoped that RN carriers with Type 984 would provide primary air targeting for the destroyers through a datalink.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |last2=Moore |title=Redesigning the RN|date=2012 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}} According to a RN naval architect, "Sea Slug did not live up to expectations" and was obsolete by 1957.{{sfnp|Brown|Moore|2003|pp=39, 188}} The compromises required by the heavy and dated Seaslug system detracted from the success and popularity of an otherwise advanced ship design. Its ineffectiveness and vulnerable magazine{{sfnp|Moore|2005|page=133}} and missile fuel reduced confidence in the class,{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} which had potential as command ships, having good seaworthiness, speed and in the group two ships a spacious operations room with [[ADAWS]].

In 1960, because US-designed missiles were seen at the time to be superior to the Seaslug, the [[Royal Australian Navy]] (RAN) proposed a variation of the County-class armed with the US Tartar missile and two additional modifications: hangar space for three [[Westland Wessex]] helicopters and a steam propulsion system, rather than the [[combined steam and gas]] system used in the County class. However, the RAN instead decided to proceed with the {{sclass|Perth|destroyer|4}} (a modified version of the US {{sclass|Charles F. Adams|destroyer|4}}). Two different reasons have been put forward for the Australian decision: according to an Australian history, British authorities would not allow a steam-propelled variant of the county,<ref>Cooper, Alastair; cited by Stevens, David, ed. (2001). ''The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence'' (vol. III); South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, pp. 190–1</ref> whereas, according to a British account, the re-design required to accommodate the Tartar missile would have taken longer than the RAN was prepared to accept.{{sfnp|Friedman|2006|p=195}}

The US Terrier missile had some support amongst the RN staff but consideration was not given to acquiring it for the second batch of four ships,{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} as the County class were "shop windows" for advanced UK technology, and it was vital for the British missile and aerospace industry to continue the Sea Slug project, to allow the development of the much improved [[Sea Dart]] missile.  Following problems with the original version, a reworked Action Data Automation Weapon System (ADAWS) was successfully trialled on HMS ''Norfolk'' in 1970.{{sfnp|Friedman|2006|page=191}} In the mid-1960s the County-class destroyers were assets; their impressive appearance and [[data link]]s, feeding off the carriers' [[Type 984 radar]], projected effective capability during the [[Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation]].{{sfnp|Wilson|2013|pp=627 & spec}}{{sfn|Hall (December 2008)|p=50}} The Mark 1 Seaslug was operationally reliable and proved useful as a missile target for the new Sea Dart missiles in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the supersonic Mark 2 version proved less effective for this. There are questions as to whether it was ever fully operational and there were problems with missiles breaking up when the boosters separated.{{sfnp|Friedman|2006|p=192}} Inaccuracy, primitive [[beam-riding guidance]] and lack of [[infrared homing]] or a [[proximity fuze]] in the Mk 1 made it of limited value.{{sfnp|Brown|Moore|2003|p=39}} Short-range air defence was provided by the [[Seacat (missile)#GWS-22|GWS-22 Seacat]] anti-aircraft missile system, which made the Counties the first Royal Navy warships to be armed with two different types of guided missile.

===Batch 2 improvements===
[[File:NAVO eskader bezoekt Amsterdam, vlaggeschip HNS Norfolk, Bestanddeelnr 928-6223.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Norfolk'', a Batch 2 ship, following modification that removed the 'B' turret and replaced it with four Exocet launcher boxes]]
The second four Counties had improved air warning and target indicator radar ("double bedstead" 965M and a revised 992 for closer range tracking rather than only surface warning). The revised Seaslug Mk2 was supposedly effective against supersonic and surface targets at up to 30&nbsp;km. ADAWS command and control system could process and prioritise air targets detected by the 965 and 992 radar and other so fitted RN warships. This was important as the Type 984 3D processing system on the carriers ''Victorious'', ''Hermes'' and ''Eagle'' were removed from 1967 to 1972, affecting the first four County class ships which depended on datalinks to the carrier systems for primary radar and targeting processing of Seaslug.

As constructed, the County-class ships were armed with a pair of twin [[QF 4.5 inch naval gun|QF 4.5-inch gun]] mountings. These had magazines for 225 shells for each gun, two-thirds of the magazine capacity for the same guns in the single-turreted [[Leander-class frigate|''Leander''-class frigate]]s.{{sfnp|Friedman|2006|p=189}} The second batch of four ships (''Antrim'', ''Fife'', ''Glamorgan'' and ''Norfolk'') were refitted in the mid-1970s – their 'B' turrets were removed and replaced by four single [[Exocet|MM38 Exocet]] surface-to-surface anti-ship-missile launcher boxes in order to increase the fleet's anti-ship capability following retirement of its aircraft carriers.{{sfnp|Marriott|1989|p=106}} This made the County-class ships the only Royal Navy ships to be fitted with three separate types of guided missile: Seaslug, Seacat and Exocet.

===Possible development===
It was suggested by [[Vosper Thornycroft]] that the Counties could have been developed for the anti-submarine role by replacing the Seaslug system with a larger hangar and flight deck and the possibility of removing Seaslug and rebuilding the missile tunnel as storage for extra [[Westland Lynx]] helicopters.{{sfnp|Preston|1980}}{{page needed|date=September 2018}} Certainly, these arrangements as originally installed to operate a single [[Westland Wessex]] anti-submarine helicopter were problematic, with a hangar so cramped it took an hour to get the aircraft either in or out again, during which the port Seacat launcher was unusable. However it was determined that beam-restrictions would still limit the Counties' helicopter operation in RN service to the obsolescent Wessex, as they were too narrow to handle the far more capable [[Westland Sea King|British-built Sea King HAS]]. The Chilean navy, however, did convert two of the four ships they purchased along these lines.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}