One of the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 Frigates is to be called HMS Cardiff, the Defence Secretary has said on St David’s Day.

The frigate will be built at the BAE Systems shipyard in Govan, Glasgow along with her sister ships HMS Glasgow and HMS Belfast and will be the second to enter production as part of the £3.7 billion contract for the three ships, announced by the MoD in 2017.

Eight Type 26 Frigates are to be built in total with three int he first batch, the contract for the second batch will be negotiated in the early 2020s. Ordering in batches is common for projects of this size around the world and was last seen with the Royal Navy for the Type 45 Destroyers and recent Offshore Patrol Vessels. The Type 45s first batch order was for three vessels for example.

THREAD: Great to see the name HMS Cardiff returning to the Fleet as one of our new Type 26 Frigates, reflecting the @RoyalNavy’s long-standing bond with the city and the people of Wales. #StDavid’sDay #GwylDewi pic.twitter.com/C9yOwUqpbg — First Sea Lord (@AdmPhilipJones) March 1, 2018

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said:

“The Type 26 Frigate is a cutting-edge warship, combining the expertise of the British shipbuilding industry with the excellence of the Royal Navy. These ships will be a force to be reckoned with, there to protect our powerful new carriers and helping keep British interests safe across the world.

The contract is structured to ensure value for taxpayers’ money and, importantly, now designed to protect them from extra bills from project overrun. The investment will secure hundreds of skilled jobs at BAE Systems on the Clyde for the next twenty years, and thousands of jobs in the supply chain across Britain.”