HMS Daring is the lead ship of the
Type 45 or
Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the
Royal Navy, and the seventh ship to hold that name. She was launched in
2006 on the
Clyde and conducted contractor's sea trials during
2007 and 2008. She was handed over to the Royal Navy in
December 2008, entered her base port of
Portsmouth for the first time in
January 2009 and was formally commissioned on 23 July 2009. As the lead ship of the first destroyer class built for the Royal Navy since the Type 42 in the
1970s, she has attracted significant media and public attention. Her name, crest and motto are a reference to the
Roman youth
Gaius Mucius Scaevola, famed for his bravery.
Operational history[edit]
Daring's construction began at the
BAE Systems Naval Ships yard (now
BAE Systems Surface Ships) at
Scotstoun on the
River Clyde in
March 2003. The ship was launched at 14.21
GMT on
1 February 2006.
HRH The Countess of Wessex was the ship's sponsor at her launch. On
16 November 2006, the
Countess of Wessex brought Daring to life on her first official visit. On
17 November 2006, the countess switched on the ship's diesel generators, part of the 'powering up' ceremony.
On 18 July 2007 Daring sailed on the first set of sea trials (
Stage 1.1), successfully completing them 4 weeks later on 14
August 2007. As she is the first in the class some structural areas needed to be tested, including the loads that the main
4.5 inch
Mark 8 naval gun puts on the ship. During these trials, Daring reached her design speed of 29 knots (54 km/h) in 70 seconds and achieved a speed of 31.5 knots (58 km/h) in
120 seconds. She sailed for Stage
1.2 on 30
March 2008 and returned on 2 May. Stage 1.2 included trials on the
Long Range Radar and navigation system, medium calibre gun blast trials, weapon alignment tests and endurance tests. Stage 1.3 trials were conducted between 26 August[20] and
22 September 2008 and emphasis was placed on testing the full range of communications equipment. The ship's company used the opportunity to conduct familiarisation and training activities in preparation for the transfer of the vessel to the Royal Navy in December 2008. Stage 2 trials took place in 2009, once the ship had been handed over to the Royal Navy.
HMS Daring arrived in her home port of Portsmouth on
28 January 2009 to large crowds along the seafront. She was given the honour of a flypast to coincide with her passing of the
Round Tower, just outside Portsmouth. Daring was formally commissioned on 23 July 2009 with
The Countess of Wessex inspecting an honour guard on the quayside, and reception. The commissioning cake was cut by the wife of the commanding officer and
Able Seaman Daniel Small, who was the youngest member of the ship’s company.
Daring was declared officially "in service" on 31 July
2010,and shortly afterwards on
7 September 2010 was involved in a collision with a tug whilst entering
Marchwood Military Port in
Southampton Water. The cause of the collision and the extent of the damage are yet to be determined.
Recent service[edit]
HMS Daring fired her first
Sea Viper missile in May
2011 during a test launch in the
Outer Hebrides, after years of trials. During the same year she was equipped with two
Phalanx CIWS mounted on either side of the superstructure.
On 6
January 2012, the Royal Navy announced that Daring would leave Portsmouth on
11 January 2012 to undertake her first mission, a deployment to the
Persian Gulf. Daring travelled through the
Suez Canal on
2 February 2012, then continued on to the Persian Gulf, relieving the
Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll that was on station there. In
February 2012, as part of the Persian Gulf deployment, Daring joined
Operation Scimitar Anzac, an anti-piracy operation in the
Red Sea and the
Gulf of Aden. This international operation included the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Wave Knight, the
Royal Australian Navy frigate
HMAS Parramatta, and the
Pakistan Navy's
PNS Babur. Daring acted as the command ship for all the vessels. During operation in the Persian Gulf and
North Arabian Sea, Daring operated with the
U.S. Navy's
Carrier Strike Group One and
Carrier Strike Group Nine.
She has set out westwards to join the Royal Australian Navy's
International Fleet Review 2013 in
Sydney, Australia during
October 2013; and to join the
2013 Five Power Defence Arrangements Exercise Bersama
Lima. So far, she has stopped by
San Juan in
Puerto Rico,sailed through the
Panama Canal and docked at the US
Naval Base in
San Diego.recently, she made a port visit to
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.She also participated in an
Independent Deployer
Certification Exercise off the coast of
Hawaii. It has been said that it is engaged in ballistic defence trials with the US
Missile Defence Agency (
MDA) in as part of a major research and development programme. Daring also visited the USAKA at
Kwajalein in the
Marshall Islands. She then visited
Port Phillip Bay ahead of entering
Sydney Harbour for the
IFR.
- published: 29 Mar 2016
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