Paladin-class destroyer

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Class overview
Name:	Paladin-class destroyer
Builders:	Vickers Armstrong Arthurista
Operators:	Commonwealth Navy
Preceded by:	War Emergency Programme destroyers
Succeeded by:	Pendragon-class destroyer, Pallas-class destroyer
Preserved:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	2,600-3,670 tonnes
Length:	123m
Beam:	13m
Draught:	5.8m full load
Propulsion:	2x boilers, 2x steam turbines, 2-shafts, 50,000 shp
Speed:	34kn
Range:	9,000km at 20 knots
Armament:	1944: 6x QF 4.5-inch Mk I – V naval gun in three twin-turrets 4x 40mm anti-aircraft guns in two radar-directed stabilised 'STAAG' mounts 6x Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft autocannons in three Mk V 'utility' twin mounts 4x 20mm anti-aircraft guns in four single mounts 1x Squid ASW mortar system 8x 21-inch torpedo tubes Paladin Modernisation Project: 4x QF 4.5-inch Mk I – V naval gun in two twin-turrets 4x 40mm anti-aircraft autocannons in two 'utility' twin mounts 4x 20mm anti-aircraft autocannons in four single mounts 1x Squid ASW mortar system 1x Ikara ASW missile system (magazine for 24 rounds) 1x Sea Cat short-range anti-air missile launcher
Armour:	steel shrapnel sheets, kevlar spall liners

The Paladin Class was an Arthuristan class of destroyers. It was conceived in the mid-40s in the midst of the Great Fascist War as the 'mother of all fast fleet-escorts', combining the lessons and advances from the first years of the war into a single package. It had six medium-calibre dual purpose guns and a mass of 20mm and 40mm light anti-air guns . Unlike earlier escort vessels, whose primary ASW weapon was the Hedgehog rocket-propelled depth charge projector, the Paladin introduced the Squid ASW mortar system, a weapon with considerably greater reach and, utilising data-link technology, is connected to the ship's sonar system and is automatically fired using sensor data. Finally, the ship kept the destroyer's traditional surface-attack mission and was armed with 21mm torpedoes for the purpose, though many which served in the Far East had at least one torpedo bank removed to save top weight in order to mount heavier anti-air guns.

The Paladin proved to be a successful multipurpose design, capable of engaging air and surface targets, as well as submarines. Four of its ten 40mm guns were installed in 'STAAG' (i.e. "stabilized tachymetric anti-aircraft gun") mounts - stabilised gun mounts with its own tachymetric fire control system, based around the centimeter Radar Type 262, enabling it to 'lock on' to a target. This forerunner of the modern CIWS proved to be a design too far ahead of it time. The mount's delicate valve electronics were unreliable, and the entire assembly was very heavy. Many Paladins had their STAAG mounts replaced with the simpler, un-stabilised Mk V 'utility' mounts.

Paladin Modernisation Project

By the late-50s, a new generation of fleet escorts were entering service. The Archer-class frigate was to become the primary anti-submarine platform, while the Pendragon-class destroyer was armed with both long range anti-air and anti-ship missiles to replace old gun cruisers. Considerable numbers of Paladins remained in service, however, and most were still in excellent condition. For the increasingly cash-strapped Admiralty, they became a valuable source of hulls with which to pad out the fleet's surface screening elements, a general purpose workhorse to balance the more specialist designs of the post-war world. As such, they embarked upon the Paladin Modernisation Project to keep these units viable as an interim measure until their replacements could be developed.

Most of the superstructure aft of the funnel was stripped down and rebuilt (using aluminium to save top-weight). Most prominent of the new features is a giant Type 965M air search radar, allowing these destroyers to act as radar pickets for carrier battle groups, working in conjunction with AEW aircraft to vector interceptors against incoming air threats. The stack was reconfigured into a split-trunk design in order to divert corrosive exhaust smoke away from the delicate new radar equipment. Also installed was a new sonar system and an Ikara anti-submarine missile system, providing a stand-off subsurface attack capability out to 19km. A new Sea Cat missile system was installed for self-defence against aircraft. The paired 40mm mounts aft were removed, although some light-AA armaments remained. These weapons had by then become increasingly obsolete against jet aircraft and were mainly used for self-defence against small craft in the coastal policing role.

Paladins were gradually replaced in the 1970s by the Archer-class frigate, Pallas-class destroyer and Type-24 frigate. However, the last modernised Paladin did not leave Commonwealth Navy service until 1983.