Last Type 26 Named HMS Edinburgh

The Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced the seventh out of eight Type 26 Frigates is to be called HMS Edinburgh.

The new ship will be the seventh warship to carry the name and is the final out of the eight Type 26s to be named.

Mr Williamson marked the announcement with Councillor Jason Rust, Bailie for the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh at the Nelson Monument and museum on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill.

The names of Britain's fifth and sixth Type 26 frigates were announced as HMS Newcastle and HMS Sheffield a week ago.

Type 26s will be on 'the frontline'

Speaking during a visit to Edinburgh, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

"This is such an important day; having the opportunity to name a great ship after a great city.

"The Type 26 are the world’s most advanced submarine hunters in the world and to be naming one HMS Edinburgh brings, I think, a great joy and carries on a tradition that’s gone on a tradition that’s gone on for over 300 years of these magnificent ships being named after Edinburgh.

“They are going to be very much on the frontline; hunting for Russian submarines in the North Atlantic," Mr Williamson added. 

"And we’ve seen a tenfold increase in Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic and we need to be investing in the right capabilities in order to counter these threats."

The first ship to carry the name HMS Edinburgh was a fifth-rate ship, which was transferred into the Royal Navy in 1707. The last was a Type 42 destoryer, which was decommissioned in 2013 after deployments to the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf.

In July last year, the Ministry of Defence awarded BAE Systems a £3.7bn contract to build the Type 26 frigates.

Eight Type 26s will be built on the Clyde - with each vessel costing up to £250 million.

The ships will specialise in anti-submarine warfare, working closely with the Royal Navy's Trident nuclear deterrent and the new aircraft carriers.

They will be based at Devonport and are set to first enter service in the early 2020s - replacing the Type 23 frigates.

The Type 26s are expected to continue in service beyond the middle of the 21st century.

HMS Glasgow, HMS Cardiff, HMS Belfast, HMS Birmingham, HMS Newcastle, HMS Sheffield and HMS London are the names of the other Type 26s.