NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2007
Sail of the
century
HAILED as the ‘world’s
most advanced warship’,
up
st
HMS Daring has
flu
successfully completed her
un
fi rst month at sea around
w
the Western Isles and,
th
chiefl y, the Firth of Clyde.
Richard Hargreaves
25
joined her for the final day
w
of twists and turns off the
w
pa
Isle of Arran.
T
HERE was, one Christmas
as a child, only one
present which would
ra
suffi ce: Tracy Island. an
The home of Thunderbirds and
International Rescue was a marvel of ra
technology, with launch pads hidden –
behind palm trees and swimming pools.
There is, you might think, little bu
correlation between puppets on eg
strings and the world’s most advanced de
warship.
Little correlation, that is, until a huge fa
sliding door opens in the superstructure
to reveal the sea boat ‘hangar’ (minus bo
the thunderous Thunderbirds theme, of C
course). As the door flips up, so a guard
rail automatically pops out of the deck lig
floor. fix
The sea boat itself is held in the grip
of a giant claw. It seamlessly swings sc
out of the boat bay on a hydraulic arm
(officially it’s called a Pellegrini davit), di
the claw lets go and the boat and crew br
are winched down in the water.
All very Gucci. But why? Why not th
simply launch sea boats as we do now? fu
It’s not because we can, it’s not
because we were feeling extravagant, gr
it’s because we don’t want to get blown on
out of the water. th
The reason is stealth – to present
as small a radar cross section to co
the electronic eyes of the enemy as an
possible. in
Pictures: BAE Systems
0024-025_NN_Sept.indd 124-025_NN_Sept.indd 1 117/8/07 14:55:137/8/07 14:55:13
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48