Plans firm up for the Royal Navy's new Type 26 frigates

Royal Navy frigates are designed to fight wars but more normally fulfil peacetime roles that involve policing the seas and helping with the provision of humanitarian relief.

A notable example of the frigate’s utility can be found in HMS Argyll, the oldest of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates.

Commissioned in 1991, Argyll notched up successes in October 2014 when her crew helped in a four-day clean-up of Bermuda following Hurricane Gonzalo, an act followed swiftly by the seizure of cocaine valued at £10m from a yacht in the Caribbean.

Before landing back in Plymouth on 18 December, Argyll and her crew thwarted more drug smugglers during a night-time operation that saw the ship hit full throttle to make up 70 nautical miles in pursuit of a small, highly manoeuvrable boat carrying £36m of cocaine.

Geoff Searle, BAE Systems

The Type 23 is assisted in her quest by the multiple systems and personnel embarked upon her to fulfil her remit, including Lynx helicopters and crew, detachments of Royal Marines, and small patrol boats that together help – in these particular instances – to prevent profit from the sale of controlled substances.