page_title: HMS Bristol (D23)
section_title: Origin
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Bristol (D23) / Origin
caption_attribution_description: HMS Bristol
context_page_description: HMS Bristol (D23) is a Type 82 destroyer, the only vessel of her class to be built for the Royal Navy. Originally intended as the first of a class of large destroyers to escort the CVA-01 aircraft carriers projected to come into service in the early 1970s, Bristol turned out to be a unique ship: the rest of the class were cancelled with the CVA-01 carriers in the 1966 Strategic Defence Review. Following a long career which included the Falklands War, she was converted into a training ship in 1987 and continues to serve in that role. In 1991 while part of the Dartmouth training squadron, she suffered a Olympus gas turbine failure that damaged the power turbine. The damage was beyond economical repair and no longer having enough value to be sold to another navy, she became a Harbour Training ship at HMS Excellent. She is expected to be decommissioned and "released for disposal" on 31 March 2021.
context_section_description: The CVA-01 fleet aircraft carrier was designed to replace the World War II vintage aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. The first plans were for two carriers and to protect these carriers four new Type 82 area air defence destroyers were to be built. In 1963, the Minister of Defence Peter Thorneycroft, announced in Parliament that one new aircraft carrier would be built, at an estimated cost of £56 million. However, a change of government and competition from the RAF (the RAF and Navy were both expected to use the Hawker P.1154 supersonic V/STOL aircraft, a larger version of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier) saw the project being cancelled in the 1966 Defence White Paper. This eliminated the requirement for the Type 82 class destroyer. However, one vessel of the original four was ordered on 4 October 1966 for use as a testbed for new technologies. HMS Bristol was launched in 1969, with four new weapons and electronics systems.
caption: On board HMS Bristol, 2005
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