I remember watching the Vulcan as a kid at Scampton and Washington

A very iconic sound just like the Spitfire and Hurricane- different times of cause

Hi Pat,
The Olympus engines were already in use in the Avro Vulcan V-Bomber.
Later derivatives were also used in SST Concorde.
While Dad was stationed at RAF Cosford I witnessed the landing of the last operational Vulcan for inclusion in the RAF Museum there.
She came in very low over our quarters making a tremendous noise and I thought she was going to take our TV aerials with her. Passengers in a train on the embankment at the edge of the field must have got the shock of their lives as that huge aircraft skimmed over them and flopped down just beyond the embankment.

😎

The correct answer was of course HMS Exmouth - Bravo Zulu to Nick and Doug - here is a bit of the history about her

"HMS Exmouth was a Royal Navy anti-submarine warfare frigate of the Blackwood or Type 14 class.

Service history
Exmouth became the first major British warship to be powered by gas turbine engines alone when, in 1966, she was taken in hand and was refitted with a combined gas or gas (COGOG) arrangement. The main reason behind the conversion of Exmouth was to trial the (then) new Marine Olympus which had been selected as the turbine for the Type 82 destroyer and the Type 19 high-speed anti-submarine frigate. Therefore, she was fitted with a Bristol Siddeley Olympus TM1 of 24,000 shp (limited to 15,000 shp (11,000 kW) due to gearbox and shaft limitations) for full power and two Bristol Siddeley Proteus 10M (3,500 shp each) for fuel-efficient cruising. These engines drove the single shaft through a common gearbox. The Proteus engines could work alone or together, but could not be run together with the Olympus. As the engines could not run in reverse, a reversible-pitch propeller was installed. As the engines could be controlled directly from throttles on the bridge, bridge steering was fitted. The requisite air intakes and filters were grouped amidships and the turbine uptakes exhausted into a common, streamlined funnel, completely changing Exmouth's appearance. The exhaust and intake trunking was also utilised to allow the removal of complete engines, giving a rapid 24-hour exchange time.

Exmouth rejoined the fleet on 5 June 1968, and during the 1970s she carried out extended trials to validate the feasibility of all-gas turbine propulsion. The foresight of her conversion was illustrated when after only 64 hours of running, an entire ring of Olympus turbine blades failed. Her test cruises took her to the Mediterranean Sea, where she took part in various trials and exercises based at Malta. She proceeded to Crete which made her the only Type 14 to get this far east. She acted as plane guard for the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and was involved in the search for survivors when a Russian destroyer lost 3 men overboard when making a close pass ahead of Ark Royal whilst the latter was at flying stations (the men were never found). She eventually returned to her home base port of Chatham in Kent. She then went to the Isle of Portland as a day runner in the 2nd Frigate Squadron, providing support for ships working-up under Flag Officer Sea Training. This was to prove her propulsion in a stop/start scenario – basically press the button, start the engines and sail – which was much less time-consuming than flashing up a steam plant.

The trials were ultimately successful, and allowed the trouble-free introduction of the Olympus into naval service in the Type 42 destroyer and the Type 21 and two batches of Type 22 frigates. The Olympus was also an export success, and Exmouth's COGOG arrangement was also widely emulated. Exmouth was broken up in 1979."

I have an oppo that lives just down the road that served on her when she was the trials ship

Doug, got me ships confused! I'm obsessed with the Type 12 Whitby/Rothesay class as I used to volunteer on HMS Plymouth when she was a museum ship in Wallasey Docks. Sadly scrapped now, sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed. Exmouth was, as you say, a type 14...

You are correct Doug Exmouth was a Blackwood Class frigate - all named after famous Admiral - terrible for handling as the were single screwed and would roll on a millpond

Hi Nick,
Re "HMS Exmouth. First to be powered by gas turbine only (COGAG)."
True, in 1966 I believe. But Wasn't Exmouth F84 a Blackwood class ship?
Refitted '66-'68 as an all turbine trials ship for the COGOG configuration.
The Type 14s weren't much use for anything else!
Designed as small cheap ASW specialist ships they were pretty much obsolete before they were finished. 15 were built including 3 for the Indian Navy.
Limited by the lack of a gun, and too little space for armament upgrades the Admiralty decided that quality was the top priority of all future ships, even if it meant having a smaller fleet.

Cheers, Doug😎

Hi Adrian,
Re "Tribal class frigates were COSAG,(combined sream and gas) in early 1960s."
Of course they were!👍My bad😔 I plead Typo; D and S are adjacent on the keyboard.
Much like R and T in sream or steam😁
Most of us suffer from 'fat finger typing' from time to time🤔
Cheers, Doug😎

I will answer later today to give everyone a chance to answer but the question did state a major ship - I don't count an MTB or Patrol Boat as a major ship, also Turbinia was in fact the very first ship to be powered by turbines but they were steam not gas, I am going to post todays question now as I have appointment later.

Mgb2009 was retro fitted with a gas turbine in 1947. Tribal class frigates were COSAG,(combined sream and gas) in early 1960s.

Whitby class frigate HMS Exmouth. First to be powered by gas turbine only (COGAG). Shanties was CODAG, combined diesel and gas...

The first, HMS Ashanti, was a Type 81 'Tribal class frigate, was commissioned in 1961 with a CODAG propulsion.
Smaller boats like MGB 2009 in 1947 and the launch Turbinia, which caused chaos at a Spithead Review, previously demonstrated the concept.

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