Iron Duke's armament suite is not limited to weapons found on the ship itself for the vessel is fully-equipped to hand a single Westland Lynx (or similar) medium-lift navalized helicopter operating from the stern-based helipad. The attached hangar makes maintenance, repair, and resupply possible at-sea. With a helicopter laid up in the hangar, a second vehicle can be carried on the pad itself if need be.
These helicopter form a powerful air-arm detachment of the ship as they provide over-the-horizon spotting capabilities and are outfitted with search, tracking, and engagement systems all their own - primarily centered on the hunting and neutralization of enemy submarines and surface ships. As such, they are cleared to carried torpedoes and the "Sea Skua" anti-ship missile.
Structurally, Iron Duke displaces 4,900 tons. She has a bow-to-stern length of 436.3 feet, a beam (width) measuring 52.9 feet, and a draught down to 23.8 feet. Power is from a CODLAG ("COmbined Diesel-eLectric And Gas") arrangement which sees 2 x Paxman Valenta 12CM diesel generators installed alongside 2 x GEC electric motors outputting a combined 4,000 shaft horsepower. There are partnered with 2 x Rolls-Royce Spey SM1C units developing 31,100 shaft horsepower. All this drives a pair of shafts under-stern giving the ship a maximum speed of 28 knots and a range out to 7,500 nautical miles. In the arrangement, the electric sets are driven by the diesel generators for general cruising actions while the gas turbine comes into play (via a cross-connecting transmission unit) for dash actions - the result is a more fuel-efficient warship.
Aboard is a crew of about 185 though accommodations allow for as many as 205 to be carries and fully-supported for weeks at sea. Her profile certainly looks the part of a Cold War-era warship in that there are many protrusions, traps, and vertical facings about her design. Her masts are only partially enclosed but her smoke funnels are conjoined and of a low-profile appearance. Much of her superstructure is spread out just aft of the deck gun at the forecastle to the helipad at the stern. The bridge takes its usual place behind and above the 32-cell VLS unit at the forecastle. Many measures were instituted into the operation of the "Duke-class" such as sound, thermo- and electro-magnetic reduction - making them quieter than the preceding RN guided-missile frigates.
Iron Duke's first-actions were in response to the Sierra Leone Civil War in 2000 where Duke served as a deterrent offshore and supported actions inland. After this the vessel underwent a refit and was returned to active service in mid-2002 at which point she was stationed in Caribbean waters to tackle the active drug trade there. Joint-national exercises then followed off the coast of Scotland.
After more anti-drug actions, exercises, and crew training, Iron Duke went on patrol in the North Atlantic. Her first combat-centered commitment finally arrived in 2011 while supporting anti-government forces in Libya. Her weapons were used in anger for the first time in July. A major refit then followed in March of 2012 to help keep the warship viable for the new decade. One of the major upgrades was the addition of the BAe Systems "Artisan" 3D surveillance radar suite. She was back in action in June of 2013. After various stops, she partook in various joint-nation exercises.
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