Daring class destroyer (1949)

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Daring-class	Image:RN-White-Ensign.svg
Image:HMS Delight (Daring-class destroyer 1949).jpg HMS Delight
General Characteristics
Displacement:	Standard: 2,830 tons Full load: 3,820 tons
Length:	390 ft (119 m)
Beam:	53 ft (16.2 m)
Draught:	13.6 ft (4.1 m)
Propulsion:	Parsons steam turbines (English Electric in RAN ships), 2 shafts, 2 boilers, 54,000 shp (40 MW)
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h)
Range:
Complement:	297
Armament:	3 x twin 4.5 in (114 mm) guns 1 x twin Mk2 STAAG 40 mm gun 2 x twin Mk5 40 mm Bofors guns (replaced STAAG) 1 x Limbo Mk10 anti-submarine mortar 1 x Mk4 Squid A/S mortar (replaced Mk10 Limbo) 5 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (later removed. Ten in RAN ships)

The Daring class were a class of eight destroyers of the Royal Navy (RN) that were laid down during and after World War II, though like many other classes, their construction was halted for quite a while. The Darings were not commissioned until the 1950s. Two of the ships, Danae and Delight, were originally part of the Battle class, though only Delight (originally Ypres, then Disdain, before finally being renamed to Delight) was commissioned. Three ships, Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager, were built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and were known as the Voyager class, with another ship, Duchess, being loaned, then subsequently sold to them.

Nine planned Daring class destroyers were cancelled: Danae, Demon, Desire, Desperate, Doughty, Dragon, Druid, Dogstar and Disdain.

The Darings were the largest destroyers then built at that time for the RN, at 390 ft (119 m), compared to the Battles at 379 ft (116 m), their predecessor, as-well as a full load displacement of 3,820 t which eclipsed the Battles 3,430 t. The Darings were the last conventional gun destroyers of the RN armed with twin 4.5 inch (114 mm) gun mounts in three turrets. The class was also armed with one dual STAAG 40 mm gun, which was later replaced by two dual Mk5 40 mm guns. The SeaCat missile launcher was fitted briefly to Diana but it was later removed and never fitted to the rest of the Darings.

The class saw faithful service with the RN and RAN for quite some time, serving in a number of conflicts. HMS Delight, and HMAS Duchess, Vampire and Vendetta took part in the Indonesian Confrontation, with Vendetta also seeing service during the Vietnam War in 1970. Sadly, tragedy struck in peacetime, when in 1964, HMAS Voyager was cut in half by the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and sank with the loss of eighty-one of her crew. The Darings received little modernisation during their time in the RN, and so, in the 1970s, all ships in RN service were decommissioned. Darings in RAN service except for Duchess were given enclosed bridges and their gun direction systems were modified beyond the original range to 25,000 yards to better reflect the capability of the guns themselves. Regarded by many in the RAN as the finest gunship ever built, with a rate of fire of up to 65 rounds per minute.

Two ships, Decoy and Diana, were sold to the Peruvian Navy. The last RAN ship to be decommissioned was Vampire, in 1987, subsequently becoming a museum-ship at Darling Harbour, Sydney.

Daring class destroyer

Royal Navy