County-class destroyer

HMS Kent at Portsmouth in 1989
Class overview
Builders	Cammell Laird Swan Hunter Vickers Armstrong
Operators	Royal Navy  Chilean Navy  Pakistan Navy
Preceded by	Daring class
Succeeded by	Type 82
Subclasses	Batch 1 Batch 2
In commission	16 November 1962 – 22 September 2006
Completed	8
Cancelled	2[1]
Laid up	2
Lost	0
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	6,200 tons
Length	520 ft (160 m)
Beam	54 ft (16 m)
Draught	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion	COSAG on 2 shafts; 2× Babcock & Wilcox boilers, geared steam turbines, 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) 4× Metrovick G6 gas turbines, 30,000 shp
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi)
Complement	471 (33 officers, 438 ratings)
Sensors and processing systems	Type 903 radar (MRS-3 system)
Armament	2× fore-mounted twin-gunned turret with 4.5-inch (113 mm) guns Mark N6 (Batch 2's turret "B" was later replaced by 4× MM38 Exocet missile launchers) 2× mountings for Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 1× aft-mounted Seaslug GWS.1 or GWS.2 surface to air missile system (24 missiles) 2× mountings (port & starboard) for Seacat GWS-22 SAM 2× triple-tube launchers for shipborne torpedoes
Aircraft carried	1× Wessex HAS Mk 3 helicopter
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and enclosed hangar for embarking one helicopter

The County class was a class of British guided missile destroyers, the first such warships built by the Royal Navy. Designed specifically around the Seaslug anti-aircraft missile system, the primary role of these ships was area air defence around the aircraft carrier task force in the nuclear-war environment.^[2][3]

Eight ships were built and entered service. Two served in the British naval task force in the Falklands War in 1982. After leaving British service, four ships were sold to the Chilean Navy and one to the Pakistan Navy.