Affiliation with the Royal Navy's new Destroyer Class
(Revised December 2008)

The Royal Navy's latest class of general purpose surface warships are the Type 45 Destroyers. The six ships are known as the Daring, or 'D' Class; the first four have already been launched and have been named HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond and HMS Dragon. HM Ships Duncan and Defender will launch in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

The Daring Association's involvement with the class began when John Grandy and Patrick Lort-Phillips independently of each other suggested that a link with ships of such distinguished names might be fun and could lead to a helpful source of young crew for the Association, with the possibility of new association members or even owners from the Royal Navy downstream. The Committee was delighted that their approach to the small team overseeing the building of the so-called Type 45 Destroyers met with an enthusiastic response. The affiliation was officially launched at the Class AGM in December 2003 by Captain Tony Penny RN, the senior naval member of the build team. This initial affiliation has been broadened to include links with each of the first two ships of the class as they have begun to crew-up, and we hope to expand the relationship to include the other 4 ships over the next few years.

The first of class, HMS Daring (motto: Splendide Audax – Finely Daring), launched from Scotstoun on the north bank of the Clyde in 2006. She began sea trials in 2007, will arrive in Portsmouth in early 2009 and is due to enter full naval service in 2010. Captain Paul Bennett, her first Commanding Officer, enjoyed two days racing with the class at Cowes during our 2008 season, one on Dauntless and one on Division Belle. The second of the Type 45 class, HMS Dauntless, was launched from Govan on the Clyde’s south bank in January 2007 and will also enter service towards the end of the decade. HMS Diamond and HMS Dragon are, with HMS Dauntless, also fitting out at Scotstoun.

There are a few keen sailors amongst the MoD’s T45 'build' team which is based near Bristol. But we hope that more potential racing crew will come forward once the naval crews begin to join their ships in greater numbers over the next year or two. If owners would like to offer crewing slots on their boats to members of the 'build' team or to the crew who have already joined HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond and HMS Dragon please liaise with Calum Sillars who is acting as the Class' Type 45 Destroyer affiliation representative. Similarly, if members are interested in having a look around the bow, funnel and mast sections of ships still under construction at Vosper Thorneycroft in Portsmouth, they should also contact Calum.

If you want to know more about these impressive new warships just follow the links in the right hand column.