Thanks for the kind words, there's still some tinkering to be done with the 60s-80s fleet numbers but class wise I think I'm settled.
Next up from the stable of craziness is the double ended AAW Bristol... And her ASW half-sister.
Hugely expensive these are part of the reason that the smaller Type 17/42s appeared. They were routinely used as task group flagships due to their comprehensive command and control facilities and after the retirement of the Counties they took over the Command Cruiser role from them.
The ASW vessels were originally meant to receive a similar level of equipment fit as their AAW half-sisters including a VDS, SPS-01 and a Mk.13 forward. In the end however these proved too expensive to be justified so they were outfitted as depicted. Unlike HMS Bristol the ASW boats kept their Ikara until withdrawal.
The choice of a 76mm for these is two fold. For ASW work a 76mm is perfectly justifiable and has a useful secondary AA role. On the AAW vessels a larger mount would interfere with forward firing arcs of the Mk.13 ergo a smaller mount is used.
In due course these would receive ASSLM fitted fore in the AAW vessels and both fore and aft in the ASW vessels giving them a substantial lethality upgrade over the Harpoons shipped previously and in the case of the ASW boats a lethality upgrade, period.
~Mark.