HMS Daring (D05)
![]() Daring at sea during her first commission (1952–1954)
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History | |
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Name | HMS Daring |
Builder | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
Laid down | 29 September 1945 |
Launched | 10 August 1949 |
Commissioned | 8 March 1952 |
Decommissioned | 9 October 1968 |
Motto |
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Fate | Sold for breaking, arriving at Blyth on 15 June 1971 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Daring-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 390 ft (120 m) |
Beam | 43 ft (13 m) |
Draught | 13.6 ft (4.1 m) |
Installed power | 54,000 shp (40 MW) |
Propulsion | 2 psi, 850 °F), Parsons steam turbines , 2 shafts |
Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
Range | 4,400 nmi (8,100 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h) |
Complement | Approximately 300 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Daring was the nameship of the Daring-class destroyers authorised in 1944. Between 1953 and 1957 they were reclassified as "Darings" and not included in the destroyer total, but from October 1957 they reverted to classification as destroyers. Daring was built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson on the Tyne and engined by the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company. She was laid down on 29 September 1945; launched on 10 August 1949; and completed on 8 March 1952. She served five commissions, was placed in reserve in December 1968 and sold for scrap in 1971. She was the sixth ship of her name in the Royal Navy.
Design and construction
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Daring_Class_line_drawing.jpg/220px-Daring_Class_line_drawing.jpg)
Daring was built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson on the Tyne and engined by the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company. She was laid down on 29 September 1945 and launched on 10 August 1949 by Mrs Leonard Hall,[1] daughter-in-law of George Hall, First Lord of the Admiralty. She was commissioned for the first time on 3 February 1952, as the sixth ship of her name in the Royal Navy.
Daring, in common with Dainty, Defender and Delight, had a DC electrical system and these ships comprised the 2nd Destroyer Squadron. The remaining ships of the class received a modern AC electrical system, and formed the 5th Destroyer Squadron. Intended to have been of all-welded construction, Daring and two of her sisters were built using composite welded and riveted construction.
Armament originally consisted of six
Career
First commission (May 1952 – August 1954)
After commissioning in February 1952, she completed trials, visited her home port of
In March 1953 she took part in the NATO exercise Spring Cruise before spending April to July in refit at Gibraltar. On 26 July she sailed to attend the scene of a collision in fog between the British-registered merchant ship Culrain and the Spanish Duero. Duero, on a voyage from Alicante to Las Palmas,[4] and at 1,375 GRT only about a fifth of the size of Culrain, had been sunk by the collision.[5] All 27 crew had been rescued by Culrain, and they were transferred to Daring for landing at Gibraltar.[4]
On 12 August she was recalled to harbour in emergency and ordered to load 200 tons of stores. She sailed for
Second commission (August 1954 – November 1956)
The ship's company remained on board for a further ten months after the end of the first commission, serving with the Home Fleet in the Arctic and then back out to the Mediterranean again. Daring returned to Devonport in mid August 1954, leave was granted and the ship returned to the Home Fleet for exercises. Following the exercises, Daring sailed for Tromsø in Norway.[1]
Third commission (November 1956 – October 1958)
Daring was en route from the
Refit (October 1958 – January 1959)
In October 1958 she paid off for refit in
Fourth commission (January 1959 – December 1960)
Daring recommissioned at
Leave was given during the second half of April prior to sailing for the
After a visit to
After the Balearics the ship did more exercises with the fleet before visiting
For ten weeks during
After a brief period of leave the ship returned to Portland for weapon training, and then went by way of Portsmouth to Bremen in company with Crossbow and two submarines. After a nine-day visit she sailed down the Elbe estuary and through the Kiel Canal in thick fog, making her way in to the Baltic Sea. The Baltic was traversed in company with other units of the Home Fleet under the watchful eyes of units of the Soviet Navy, arriving in Helsinki on 26 May. Trials in Scotland saw the ship spend 3 weeks in Campbeltown, and from there she went to Loch Eriboll via Orkney. A week at Loch Eriboll was the prelude to another NATO exercise, starting from Rosyth and conducted in poor weather. Visits to Bergen and Horten in Norway were followed by leave at Devonport.
Her final operation of the fourth commission was a patrol off Iceland patrol, a year after the end of the first Cod War. She paid off in December 1960.
In reserve (December 1960 – April 1963)
Daring was placed in reserve at Devonport between December 1960 and April 1963.
Refit (April 1963 – December 1966)
In April 1963 Devonport Dockyard took the ship in hand for a long refit, with a planned completion date of October 1964. Delay followed delay and the refit was not finally completed until December 1966. There were several changes to her weapon and sensor fit: The Mark V replaced the Mark II STAAG mounts, the MRS-3 director replaced the Mark VI, and the remaining set of torpedo tubes was removed. Commander J de B Suchlick Royal Navy, the last commanding officer of Daring joked that the ship earned her only battle honour during this period – "Devonport Dockyard (1960–1966)".[6]
Fifth commission (November 1966 – October 1968)
On 24 October 1966, Daring got under way for the first time in nearly 6 years.
The ship visited Cherbourg at Whitsun (mid May 1967), and leave was granted in June and July while the ship was prepared for a deployment East of Suez. The ship sailed from Plymouth for the East on 17 July 1967.[6] After visiting Gibraltar on 20 July, and Freetown in Sierra Leone, she conducted the traditional 'Crossing the line' ceremony on 30 July. A stop at Simonstown preceded time on the Beira Patrol and passage to the Far East via Gan. After Christmas in Singapore, she arrived at Hong Kong on 31 December 1967. During her time in Hong Kong the seizure of the USS Pueblo by North Korea raised tensions. She visited Australia, including Darwin, Sydney, where she was inspected by the captain of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, and Melbourne. In company with Troubridge and Cavalier she made the 3,000 mile journey to Mauritius, encountering 80-foot (24 m) swells. Another 5 weeks were spent on the Beira Patrol before returning to the UK via Simonstown and Gibraltar.[6]
In August 1968 she was stationed at Gibraltar for guardship duties, which included a visit by Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma in September. By the end of September she was in Stockholm for British Week. On Wednesday, 9 October 1968, she was commenced preparation for being placed on the disposal list, and in December 1968 she was placed in reserve.
Disposal
Daring was sold for breaking in 1971.
References
- ^ a b c "HMS Daring's first Commission, Trevor Rawlings". Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Commissioning Book (Fourth Commission)" (PDF). Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ a b c "Commissioning Book (First Commission)". Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Duero". Uboat. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ "Crew of Spanish ship rescued". The Times. No. 52684. London. 27 July 1953. col E, p. 5.
- ^ a b c d e "Commissioning Book (Fifth Commission)" (PDF). Retrieved 17 August 2015.
Publications
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- McCart, Neil (2008). Daring Class Destroyers. Fan Publications. ISBN 978-1-904459-33-0.