page_title: Seacat (missile)
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: Seacat (missile) / Service
caption_attribution_description: A Sea Cat missile launch system on display at the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre in Sydney
context_page_description: Seacat was a British short-range surface-to-air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes. It was the world's first operational shipboard point-defence missile system and was designed so that the Bofors guns could be replaced with minimum modification to the recipient vessel and using existing fire-control systems. A mobile land-based version of the system was known as Tigercat.
  The initial GWS.20 version was manually controlled, in keeping with the need for a rapidly developed and deployed system. Several variants followed; GWS.21 added radar-cued manual control for night and bad-weather use, GWS.22 added a SACLOS automatic guidance mode, and the final GWS.24 with fully automatic engagement. Tigercat saw relatively brief service before being replaced in British service by the Rapier.
  Seacat and Tigercat were both successful in the export market and some remain in service to this day.
context_section_description: The first warship to have the system fitted operationally was the Battle-class destroyer, HMS Corunna, in February 1962. Seacat became obsolete by the 1970s due to increasing aircraft speed and the introduction of supersonic, sea-skimming anti-ship missiles. In these cases, the manually guided subsonic Seacat was totally unsuited to all but head-on interceptions and then only with adequate warning. A Seacat version was tested for intercepting targets flying at high speed near the water surface. This version used a radar altimeter, which kept the missile from being guided below a certain altitude above the surface and hence prevented the operator from flying the missile into the water. This version was never ordered.
  Falklands conflict
  Despite being obsolete, Seacat was widely fielded by the Royal Navy and was the sole anti-aircraft defence of many ships. However, unlike the modern and more complex Sea Dart and Sea Wolf systems, Seacat rarely misfired or refused to respond, in even the harshest conditions. It was capable of sustained action, which compensated for its lack of speed, range and accuracy; and it was available in large numbers.  Seacat was involved in the destruction of at least three Argentine A-4C Skyhawks although these aircraft were subjected to the full force of San Carlos air defences, other claims include Rapier, Blowpipe and ship-based gunfire.  On 12 June, HMS Glamorgan launched a Seacat at an incoming Exocet missile; although not intercepted, it may have deflected its course.
  Argentina deployed Tigercats from GADA 601. On June 12 one may have damaged RAF Harrier XW919, that was attacking Argentine positions on Sapper Hill. The Harrier, flown by Flight Lieutenant Murdo Macleod, later made an emergency landing on HMS Hermes, was assessed as beyond repair and subsequently cannibalized for parts.  It's fuselage is now at exhibit in the Polish Air Force Museum, Krakow. Seven Tigercat launchers were captured by the British after the war, some being ex RAF units.
  After the Falklands conflict, a radical and urgent re-appraisal of anti-aircraft weaponry was undertaken by the Royal Navy. This saw Seacat rapidly withdrawn from service and replaced by modern weapons systems such as Goalkeeper CIWS, more modern 20 mm and 30  mm anti-aircraft guns and new escorts carrying the Sea Wolf missile, including the vertical launch version.
  Swedish service
  The missiles were fitted to the four Swedish Östergötland-class destroyers, replacing three Bofors L/70 guns (a more modern and heavier variant than the Royal Navy's L/60) with a single launcher on each ship. The Östergötland-class destroyers, which were of late 1950s origin, were retired in the early 1980s.
  Australian service
  Seacat was mounted on all six River-class destroyer escorts of the Royal Australian Navy and was removed from service when the final ship of this class was decommissioned in the late 1990s. In their final variant, fire control was provided by HSA M44 radar/optical directors. Secondary firing positions based on visual tracking of the target through binoculars mounted on a syncro-feedback mount was also available. HMAS Torrens was the final ship to live fire the system prior to its removal from service; and this was also the only time three missiles were on the launcher and fired in sequence, resulting in one miss and two hits on towed targets.
caption: A Sea Cat launcher and M44 director at the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre, Sydney
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