Britain wanted the Type 26 chiefly as an anti-submarine specialist alongside other ships with different roles. Australia sought a combination of anti-aircraft destroyer and anti-submarine frigate in one hull, while Canada leaned toward a general-purpose escort. Those choices make the foreign versions poor direct templates for the British requirement. A larger British hull with more vertical-launch space was attractive, but inserting a new section would take a frigate out of service for a lengthy rebuild. With only eight planned ships and heavy demand for them, that absence would be difficult to absorb. A larger fleet would make such a conversion easier to contemplate.
Notable Point · 3:28:42-3:30:10
Type 26 variants and the cost of taking a frigate out of service
National requirements produced different Type 26 ambitions, while Britain's small fleet constrained major hull extensions.