Daring Class Destroyer (1949)

The ''Daring'' class was a class of eleven destroyers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed after World War II, and entering service during the 1950s, eight ships were constructed for the RN, and three ships for the RAN. Two of the RN destroyers were subsequently sold to and served in the Peruvian Navy (MGP). A further eight ships were planned for the RN but were cancelled before construction commenced, while a fourth RAN vessel was begun but was cancelled before launch and broken up on the slipway.

The ''Daring''-class ships were both the largest and most heavily armed ships serving in Commonwealth navies to be classified as destroyers. They were intended to fill some of the duties of cruisers, which post WW2 were considered both expensive and obsolete by naval planners, and were briefly officially considered a hybrid type (Darings) before being rated as destroyers. They were also the last destroyers of the RN and RAN to possess guns as their main armament (instead of guided missiles), which saw use during the Indonesian Confrontation and the Vietnam War.

The ''Daring''-class destroyers were in service in the RN and RAN from the 1950s to the 1980s. Following decommissioning, two RN ''Daring''s were sold to Peru, which operated one ship until 1993 and the other until 2007. One ship of the class is preserved: as a museum ship at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Design

The 'Darings' were the largest destroyers then built (1949) for the RN,Marriott, ''Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945'', p. 88 says: "The ''Daring'' class were the largest conventional destroyers built by the Royal Navy". having a displacement of 3,820 tons, a length of , a beam of , and a draught of .

The ''Daring''s were the last conventional gun destroyers of the RN, and were armed with the QF 4.5 inch /45 (113 mm) Mark V gun in three double mounts UD Mk.VI (later renamed simply Mark N6). The main armament was controlled by a director Mark VI fitted with Radar Type 275 on the bridge and a director CRBF (close range blind fire) aft with Radar Type 262 providing local control for 'X' turret on aft arcs. Remote Power Control (RPC) was provided for the main armament. ''Daring''s were capable of a rate of fire of 16 rounds per minute per gun, or about 100 rounds per minute overall.

They were designed to ship three twin 40 mm /60 Bofors mounts STAAG Mark II, but the midships one was later replaced by the lighter and more reliable twin Mount Mark V. This meant that the 'Darings' could engage two targets at long range and two at close range under fully automatic radar directed-control, an enormous improvement over their predecessors. Two of the Australian ''Daring''s were instead fitted with two twin and two single Bofors mounts. Type 293 was carried on the foremast for target indication.

Like the earlier , the ''Daring''s had their machinery arranged on the 'unit' principle, where boiler rooms and engine rooms alternated to increase survivability. The boilers utilised pressures and temperatures (, ) hitherto unheard of in the conservative Royal Navy, allowing great improvements in efficiency to be made without increasing weight.Friedman 2008, pp. 123, 125.Lenton 1970, p. 77. The wide spacing of the boilers resulted in widely spaced funnels. The forward funnel was trunked up through the lattice foremast (referred to as a mack) with the after funnel a stump amidships. Neither was provided with a casing, resulting in a curious, rather unappealing appearance, although the utility of the funnels was considered by some to enhance the overall appearance. Attempts were made to improve the appearance by adding a streamline case to the funnel, but this was later removed. Of note was a new design of bridge, breaking with a lineage going back to the H-class destroyer of 1936. ³/₈-inch armour plating was added to the turrets, the bridge and the fire control cable runs.

Construction

British

The Royal Navy ships were built in two groups, one with the traditional DC electrical system (''Daring'', ''Dainty'', ''Defender'' and ''Delight'') and the remaining ships (''Decoy'', ''Diamond'', ''Diana'' and ''Duchess''), with a modern AC system. They were known as the 2nd and 5th Destroyer Squadrons, respectively.

Two of the ships, ''Danae'' and ''Delight'', were originally part of the , though only ''Delight'' (originally''Ypres'', then ''Disdain'', before finally being renamed ''Delight'') was commissioned.

They were to have been of all-welded construction, but ''Daring'', ''Decoy'', and ''Diana'' were built with a composite of welding and riveting.

Australian

The Royal Australian Navy initially ordered four ''Daring''-class destroyers, which were to be named after the ships of the " Scrap Iron Flotilla" of World War II. The ships were modified during construction: most changes were made to improve habitability, including the installation of air-conditioning.Cooper, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 167 The 'Darings were also the first all-welded ships to be constructed in Australia.

The first Australian ''Daring'' was laid down in 1949.Cooper, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 168 By 1950, it was already apparent that the Australian ''Daring''s would not be completed on time, as the Australian dockyards were experiencing difficulty in keeping up with the construction schedule. To compensate for this, the RAN unsuccessfully attempted to purchase two of the 'Darings' under construction in the United Kingdom, and considered acquiring ships from the United States Navy despite the logistical difficulties in supplying and maintaining American vessels in a predominately British-designed fleet. Only three ships were completed; , , and were commissioned between 1957 and 1959. By the time they were commissioned, the cost of each ship had increased from A£2.6 million to A£7 million.

Cancelled ships

Eight further ''Daring''-class destroyers ordered for the Royal Navy were cancelled on 27 December 1945: ''Danae'', ''Decoy'', ''Delight'', ''Demon'', ''Dervish'', ''Desire'', ''Desperate'' and ''Diana''. Consequently, the ships of this class originally ordered as ''Disdain'', ''Dogstar'', ''Dragon'' and ''Druid'' were renamed as ''Delight'', ''Defender'', ''Decoy'' and ''Diana'' to perpetuate the names of the original D-class flotilla of the 1930s.

The fourth Australian ''Daring'', to be named was laid down in 1952 but cancelled in 1954 and scrapped on the slipway. This was one of several cost-cutting measures to maintain a naval aviation force based around two aircraft carriers.

Construction programme

British modifications

In 1958, the 'DC' group had their after torpedo tubes removed and replaced with a deck house providing additional accommodation facilities. This modification was made in the 'AC' ships in 1959–1960. Also at the same time, the 'ACs' had their STAAG mounts replaced with single mount Mark 7 Bofors and had the director Mark VI replaced by the new director MRS-3 (medium range system) incorporating the Radar Type 903 for fire control. The Sea Cat missile launcher was fitted briefly to ''Decoy'' for acceptance trials in 1961, but it was later removed and never fitted to the rest of the 'Darings' as had been envisaged.

Between 1962 and 1964, the 'DC' group had their STAAG mounts replaced by the Mark V also, with the final set of torpedo tubes being removed at the same time. This group also had the director MRS-3 replace the Mark VI.

Service and fate

The class saw service with the RN from the early 1950s to the early 1970s, and with the RAN from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, with ''Vampire'' in service as a training ship until 1986. Several of the ships were also involved in Cold War conflicts. ''Delight'', ''Duchess'', ''Vampire'' and ''Vendetta'' were involved in the Indonesian Confrontation. ''Vendetta'' also operated during the Vietnam War, the only Australian-built warship to fight in the conflict.

Only one ship of the class was lost. On the night of 10 February 1964, ''Voyager'' crossed the bows of the aircraft carrier and was rammed and sunk with the loss of 81 RAN personnel and one civilian contractor.Frame, ''The Cruel Legacy'', p. 5 ''Duchess'' was loaned to the RAN as a replacement for four years while replacements (two modified s) were constructed, but was then sold to the RAN.Frame, ''The Cruel Legacy'', p. 21

The British 'Darings' received little modernisation, and were all decommissioned as obsolete and requiring too large crews compared with frigates in 1968–1970. Two of these, ''Diana'' and ''Decoy'', were sold to the Peruvian Navy and renamed and respectively. These two ships were modernised, with ''Palacios'' serving until 1993, and ''Ferré'' decommissioning in 2007.

The RAN ships were modernised in the early 1970s at a cost of A$20 million,Jones, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 218 although modifications to ''Duchess'' were fewer than to her sister ships. ''Duchess'' and ''Vendetta'' remained in commission until the late 1970s, and ''Vampire'' was retained until 1986 as a training ship. The Australian 'Darings' were replaced with the s, an American-built derivative of the guided missile destroyer.Jones, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', pp. 218–219 The training role of the 'Darings' was first supplemented, then replaced, by . After decommissioning, ''Vampire'' became a museum ship at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, the only ship of the class to be preserved.

An unidentified ''Daring''-class destroyer played the fictional "HMS ''Sherwood''" in the 1957 A. E. Matthews film comedy '' Carry On Admiral''. There are a number of profile shots of the ship in Portsmouth dockyard, as well as detailed views above and below decks, and an interesting sequence showing the accidental firing of a torpedo at the admiral's barge.

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daring Class Destroyer (1949)
Destroyer classes

Ship classes of the Royal Navy