The Type 45 carried useful volume for stores and global deployment, but its original machinery fit left too little power margin. Hot-weather operations raised cooling demand while added systems consumed more electricity, exposing a weakness naval architects are said to have warned about. The proposed alternative was to modify ships five onward during construction, temporarily keep the first four in cooler European waters, and then upgrade them. A full twelve-ship programme could have incorporated those changes in later hulls. This is the construction and refit sequence proposed in the discussion, rather than the programme that occurred.
Notable Point · 4:31:46-4:34:05
The Type 45 cost of designing without power margin
Type 45 power problems illustrate the long-term price of meeting a specification without reserve capacity for hot climates and added systems.