A much misunderstood warship class, the Type 14 'captain' class. Looking at it one would be forgiven for dismissing it as underarmed (at least by the 'monster batleship' faction
). But what we have to consider is the design requirement for a cheap, easily built escort, able to be produced in greater numbers than the Type 12 frigate. It was intended to be a 'low end' complement to the more sophisticated Type 12, operating on a ratio of 3 to 1. And the role was to counter a Soviet attack on the convoy routes between the USA and Europe, during a land war in Europe. If this happened the need was for a large number of specialised ASW warships, and this is what the Type 14 became. It had the same sonar fit and asw weapons of the Type 12, but on a smaller and cheaper hull. Only 12 were built, because the emphasis was changed, from an all-out war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact (read Russia), to that of secondary wars were the Superpowers operated by proxy (Vietnam etc.). Not being a 'general purpose' design, the Type 14 had limited use, but did serve in the 'Cod War' and training; also, being a small hull there was no capacity for modernisation. So here it is: