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HMS Daring makes home port debut HMS Daring makes home port debut
(about 14 hours later)
The Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyer - HMS Daring - will be arriving in its home port of Portsmouth later. The Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyer - HMS Daring - has berthed in its home port of Portsmouth for the first time as hundreds of well-wishers looked on.
Hundreds of visitors are expected to watch the ship moor up for the first time in the city. HMS Daring is the first of six new air defence destroyers, which the Royal Navy are calling their "most capable destroyers ever".
HMS Daring is the first of six new air defence destroyers, which the Royal Navy are calling their "most capable destroyer ever". The £1bn ship is the first new class of destroyer to enter service in Portsmouth for more than 30 years.
The ship was launched in February 2006 by the Countess of Wessex and will go into service later this year. A 15-gun salute was expected to mark the ship's arrival.
HMS Daring is the seventh ship to bear the name, the first Daring was a 12 gun brig launched in 1804, which was subsequently lost in 1813 after running aground. HMS Daring was launched in February 2006 by the Countess of Wessex and will go into service later this year.
The Type 45s will replace the Navy's ageing fleet of Type 42 destroyers, such as HMS Glasgow.At 152m in length, HMS Daring is the same size as 16 double-decker buses The vessel has a state-of-the-art radar and missile system, and an ultra-modern shape.
The latest Daring was laid down in March 2003, taking more than 2.25m man hours, 2800 tonnes of steel and more than 40 tonnes of paint, before she was launched in 2006. Daring means a lot of things for Portsmouth, the Navy and the country Admiral Sir Jonathon BandFirst Sea Lord
She embarked on her first set of sea trials on 18 July 2007, reaching a speed of 31.5 kts (58 km/h) in two minutes. Cpt Paul Bennett told the BBC: "It's modern in its propulsion plant, and therefore it will go extremely fast.
Her engines can supply enough energy to power a town of 80,000 people and she has fuel tanks roughly half that of an Olympic swimming pool. "It will turn quicker, accelerate faster than other ships and therefore is really ideal for war fighting.
Speaking to the BBC, the ship's commanding officer, Captain Paul Bennett, said that Daring was a different class of ship. "And of course the air defence system is going to be world-beating."
"Eighty per cent of the ship's equipment is different, so the ship's company has had a lot to learn," he said. First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, told the BBC: "Daring means a lot of things for Portsmouth, the Navy and the country.
"My task now is to make sure the ship's weapons systems work to the full extent of their capability and that will take about 11 months. "There are people I know who question the cost and the capability and the need for the ships but this really is a world which has significant air and missile threats to deployed forces.
"It seems a long time, but it indicates just how complex these weapons will be." "If we are to fulfil an expeditionary strategy and go where the government wants us around the world, we must go with the right air cover and this is exactly what Daring provides."
Not surprisingly, the ship's technology is very advanced.HMS Daring left The Clyde earlier in the month HMS Daring is almost twice as big as the older ships it is replacing but requires a smaller crew - 190 sailors, compared with 280 personnel on the older ships.
Her main armament - The Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) - weighs as much as a small car, can accelerate to twice the speed of Concorde (Mach 4, about 2700 mph) in under 10 seconds, and has a range of over 400km. Cabins are more roomy than on the older ships class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7848174.stm">Tour of Type 45 HMS Daring
The missile is designed to protect the ship against missile and aircraft threats and will also be capable of operating inshore to provide air cover for ground forces. HMS Daring will undertake an intensive sea trials programme for the rest of the year.
The ship's SYLVER launcher can fire eight missiles in 10 seconds. The vessel is the seventh ship to bear the name; the first Daring was a 12 gun brig launched in 1804, which was subsequently lost in 1813 after running aground.
Wiring up the ship was also a major undertaking; she is fitted with enough electrical cable to circle the M25 three times. The latest Daring was laid down in March 2003, taking more than two million man hours, 2800 tonnes of steel and more than 40 tonnes of paint, before it was launched in 2006.
Crew quarters have also been given an overhaul. Instead of 40-man dorms, the ship has six-man cabins. It embarked on its first set of sea trials on 18 July 2007, reaching a speed of 31.5 kts (58 km/h) in two minutes.
She has also got her own hospital facilities - complete with operating table - 44 showers, 54 heads and 100 wash basins. She has however, only got one bath. 'Sea Viper'
Its engines can supply enough energy to power a town of 80,000 people and the ship's fuel tanks have a capacity of roughly half that of an Olympic swimming pool.
Its main armament - The Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS), known as Sea Viper - weighs as much as a small car, can accelerate to twice the speed of Concorde (Mach 4, about 2700 mph) in under 10 seconds, and has a range of more than 400km.
It also has its own hospital facilities - complete with operating table - 44 showers, 54 heads and 100 wash basins. However, it has just one bath.
The new Type 45s are replacing the Navy's ageing fleet of Type 42 destroyers, such as HMS Glasgow.
The Royal Navy originally wanted 12 new destroyers but that was ruled out on cost grounds.
All six new warships be based in Portsmouth.
Are you in Portsmouth to see HMS Daring dock? Although not yet commissioned, are you sailing onboard the vessel?
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