After the British withdrawal from East of Suez in 1971 the Tribals operated in the NATO North Atlantic sphere with the only update the fitting of Seacat missiles to all by 1977,[4] limited by their single propeller and low speed of 24 knots.
They were therefore designed to be self-contained warships with weapon and sensor systems to cover many possible engagements, air conditioning to allow extended tropical deployment and such 'modern' habitability features as all bunk accommodation (as opposed to hammocks).
The fitting of gas turbine boost engines was specifically intended to allow the frigates to almost instantly leave ports and naval bases in the event of nuclear war, rather than have to spend four to six hours to flash up the steam boilers.
The cramped awkward nature of the helicopter pad and handling provision was also exposed in the 1976 Cod War and was a major reason that some Rothesay-class frigates were given further refits in preference to the Tribals and maintained in higher status reserve in the early 1980s limitations on defence spending.
The class were still good warships in spite of being fitted with outdated guns, (they were described by some as 'guided flagpoles')[12] if sometimes capable of 18 rounds per minute for the first two minutes, and proved the usefulness of the general purpose frigate concept and gas turbine propulsion, but the average unit costs of the Type 81s completed in 1963-64 was £500,000 more than the first eight Leanders[13] and the final cost of over £5 million of the first Tribal, Ashanti, completed in 1961 was considered too high and hence limited the number actually built; the original intent was to build 23 Type 81s.
The later Royal Navy Type 21 (Amazon) class "General Purpose Frigates" were originally envisaged for a similar gunboat role to the Tribal-class ships and to operate East of Suez.
They were not particularly suited to these duties however, as they had a hull form optimised for the calm, shallow water of the Persian Gulf and with only a single shaft were unable to manoeuvre with the Icelandic patrol vessels at close quarters.
They were however given a brief reprieve by the Falklands War, with 3 mothballed Tribals (Gurkha, Tartar and Zulu) being reactivated to cover ships deployed to the South Atlantic or undergoing long-term repairs after the conflict.