The UK's Royal Navy announced the first steel has been cut for the future HMS Sheffield, the fifth of eight Type 26 frigates that will be built for the senior service. A steel-cutting ceremony was held in the city of Glasgow. 

"This steel-cutting ceremony marks another key moment for both our Royal Navy and British shipbuilding. HMS Sheffield represents not just a cutting-edge addition to our fleet, but also demonstrates our commitment to supporting thousands of skilled jobs and economic growth across Scotland and the wider UK," said Maria Eagle, minister for Defense Procurement and Industry. "This investment in our naval capability ensures we can continue to protect our nation's interests while supporting British industry." 

The Type 26 frigates are far smaller than the once mighty battleships that the Royal Navy operated, but each is also significantly more advanced. Designed primarily for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), the warships will play a crucial role in protecting the Royal Navy's carrier strike groups. Along with the even newer Type 31 vessels, the Type 26 will replace aging Type 23 Duke class frigates that first entered service in the late 1980s. 

"All eight Type 26 frigates will be built on the Clyde, with the work sustaining nearly 2,000 jobs in Scotland and 4,000 jobs across the wider UK maritime supply chain for decades to come," BAE Systems announced. "Four Type 26 vessels already under construction, HMS Belfast and HMS Birmingham are being fabricated at Govan. HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff are undergoing outfitting at Scotstoun where complex systems will be installed before test and commissioning takes place. HMS Glasgow, the first ship of the new class of frigates, is expected to enter service in 2028." 

Honoring the Previous HMS Sheffield 

The future Type 26 frigate will be the fourth vessel to be named for the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire. The first was a Town-class light cruiser, C24, that entered service in 1936 and was among the Royal Navy warships that tracked the German battleship Bismarck. 

The most recent HMS Sheffield (F96) was a Type 22 frigate that entered service in 1988 and saw service until 2002 when it was transferred to the Chilean Navy and renamed Almirante Williams. After undergoing a major refit, the frigate served as the South American nation's naval flagship. 

The second HMS Sheffield (D80) had the sad distinction of being the first Royal Navy warship sunk in combat since the Second World War.  

On May 4, 1982, an Argentine Super Étendard strike fighter successfully launched an aptly named AM39 Exocet missile, which struck the Type 42 guided missile destroyer. While it has been disputed whether the missile exploded on impact with the warship, the strike still heavily damaged the destroyer, which soon caught fire. Twenty sailors were killed in the attack, while the rest of the crew was safely evacuated. 

HMS Sheffield foundered while under tow on May 10 of the same year. She was one of five Royal Navy warships lost during the brief war in the South Atlantic. 

The UK's senior military service has often honored its losses while putting the past behind by naming new vessels for those previously lost. That most infamously includes the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, the same name as the King George V-class battleship that was sunk in December 1941 by land-based Japanese aircraft off the coast of present-day Malaysia. 

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected]. 

Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.