The Myth:: We Were Promised Contracts For 13 New Warships, But Only Building 3

The Truth:: We are actually building 18, not 13.

Before the 2014 Referendum, it was announced that 13 new warships would be built in Scotland.

Some nats actually claim none are being built at all, and the majority claim its only 3.

Both claims are outright lies.

As there was a delay in signing the contract for the Type 26 Frigates, Westminster announced that 5 Offshore Patrol Vessels would be built in the same yard, so as retain the jobs and skills that would be needed for the Type 26 Program.

All 5 of these ships have been built, and launched.

The contract was announced for the first batch of 3 Type 26s, and work is well under way on them.

This is where the claim of only 3 frigates come from.

In naval ship building, orders are always placed in batches. There will be changes needed, such as upgraded systems, that will be added as the program progresses. These upgrades are done with each new batch as they're built. The previous batches get them at their next scheduled refit.

A change that was made was to the types of frigates being ordered.

Type 26 was cut from 13 down to 8. The other 5 are still being built, but will be Type 31 Frigates.

So what is being built in Scotland?

5 Offshore Patrol Vessels (delivered)
8 Type 26 Frigates (in progress)
5 Type 31 Frigates (in progress)

(This does not include the 2 carriers, nor the frigate ordered by Ukraine)

So 18 ships instead of 13. This keeps the order books full, and the yards working at capacity until 2035 at least. By then, the designs for the Type 45 destroyer replacements should be ready, and those most likely built in the same yards.