NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2007
There are few ‘bumps’ on Daring’s airspace of all London’s airports, plus Daring scythes through the water, but She did so using a quarter of the fuel her from the hoist to the stowage rack and, in
upper deck, no boats, capstans, lockers Schiphol in Amsterdam and Paris’ Charles on the bridge it feels as if she’s barely predecessor Type 42s would have used, and action, from the rack to the loader.
sticking out. The lines of the hull are as de Gaulle.) moving. half that consumed by a Type 23. (Daring Kryten has been fired (not in anger) at
flush as they can be. “You could park one of these ships in the Speed is of little consequence on its own could, in theory, reach the Falklands the Benbecula range to test the strains it
Such stealth lines make Daring an Thames and she could defend London,” without agility: Daring can turn inside 3½ without refuelling.) placed on the destroyer.
unmistakeable sight and, perhaps compared says Vic Emery, head of surface ships for ship lengths. Nor does she belch that orange-brown So the main gun thumps away quite
with her predecessors, less attractive. BAE Systems. It seems unnatural to see the waters of smoke which envelops much of the existing nicely, as do the 30mm cannon (also
It is better to be looking out from Daring You could... but for one small problem: the Clyde hurtling past the port bridge wing Fleet as they plough the waves.
tested) and the engines have been given a
then staring at her. her missiles aren’t ready yet. and the murky clouds (this is Scotland, And all of that makes Daring kind on the
good thrashing.
Stand on the bridge and you’re a good In fact, the Aster missile which will after all) out of the starboard windows. environment as well as the RN’s pockets.
But there remains much to do in Daring;
25ft higher up than in a Type 42 or 23. be Daring’s punch won’t be fired using The ship heels over no more than 12˚ The Thunderbirds sea boat launcher will
this is the beginning of a very long road.
Couple that extra elevation with big Sampson and the ship’s combat computer performing these turns. She does not shake, also save the taxpayer money in the long-
She will not go to sea again until next
windows and you have, says officer of the system until the turn of the year – and not she does not judder. She glides (although it run.
spring, by which time she will have her first
watch Lt Steve Banfield, “a wonderful from Daring, but from the barge Longbow is wise to have legs akimbo, otherwise you With less clutter, with less nooks and
Commanding Officer in the form of Capt
panorama”. which has a copy of the destroyer’s missile will fall over). crannies on the upper deck, there are fewer
Paul Bennett. And he will not receive the
He continues: “We’re all in
system. And should the instructor tap his pad on places for the elements to do their worst
keys to the ship until the end of 2008 when
agreement that this is the best ship
So what point the sea trials? Well, exactly the dashboard and demand an emergency – so the theory is less time and money will
BAE formally hand over Daring. After that
we’ve driven. She’s amazing from
that: to test Daring’s handling at sea. stop, Daring can grind to a halt from top be spent greasing, cleaning rust, painting.
there will be a year of trials and tests before
top to bottom.”
And rather impressive it is too. speed in about 5½ ship lengths (the Navy Yet for all the automation, for all the
the ship officially enters service towards the
Dead in the water, she can reach top asked for 8½) – although you do get a Thunderbirds wizardry, some jobs still
Top begins with the principal air defence
end of 2009.
speed (31½kts, three faster than required) judder as the engines go into reverse, or demand physical effort.
radar, Sampson, perched on top of the
Daring’s ship’s company presently stands
in under two minutes. She can be pelting rather astern. A lift might carry the ‘Kryten’ 4.5in
angular main mast.
at 67 strong; two-thirds of them sailed on
along at 27kts in just 70 seconds. Before heading back up the Clyde to main gun shells from the upper deck to the
We have in the past likened the Sampson
the trials at some stage as observers, as
Pelting along at 27kts does not cause BAE’s yard at Scotstoun, Daring had magazine, and a hoist may then raise the
radar on top of the main mast to Sputnik
weapons experts, but chiefly as fire-fighting
shakes and shudders throughout the ship; clocked up 4,500 miles on sea trials around warheads to the gun room, but all 46kg of
– a large metallic sphere with antennae.
and damage control parties, alongside a
on a reasonably fine day on the Clyde the west coast of Scotland. shell and canister has to be lifted manually
The reality of Sampson as its 6½ ton
BAE crew and engineers.
bulk spins constantly is more like an
The rest of the crew from the captain to
egg speared by cocktail sticks: it’s most
definitely not round.
As for the bottom, well we didn’t get that
far down.
No chintz, no chutney
the deck hands and the chefs were civvies.
And being Scottish that apparently meant
‘chips with everything’ in the galley and the
odd helping of deep-fried black pudding,
We did, however, wander around the
washed down with Irn Bru (3,600 cans of
bowels of Daring, including the Ship “THERE aren’t any ice buckets and condom machines socket for anything electrical. But then the ‘shaver
the soft drink to be precise).
Control Centre. aboard are there?” I ask, referring to Holland’s De warship’ or the ‘portable iron warship’ would never
The small RN contingent aboard
Typically it’s a room with dials, meters,
Ruyter I had the good fortune to visit earlier this year. have quite the same soundbite quality...
were visibly impressed by their new
lights and switches on a schematic board
It’s a flippant question, of course. A flippant question, But Jack (and Jenny and Royal) have been thought
surroundings.
fixed to the wall and consoles.
that is, until we wander down a passageway and find about. Typically RN ships are built around a weapon
“The accommodation is fabulous – you
In Daring it’s Star Trek consoles and flat-
an ice cabinet – for sailors to chill their drinks while and “squeezing Jack in in every corner” takes
will not see better,” enthuses Lt Paul Read,
screen computer displays.
working. (No condom dispensers, though...) second place. Deputy Weapons Engineer Officer.
So too is the operations room, not a
Actually, there should be no need for ice Sailor for sailor (there will be 190 on board “As for the weaponry, it’s ground-
dingy, poorly-lit, cramped room, but a
cabinets: Daring is designed to operate equally eventually), there’s two-fifths more living space breaking technology, cutting edge.”
bright, spacious command centre.
in the freezing Arctic and broiling Gulf, unlike her than in existing destroyers and frigates. All this ‘Gucci-ness’ does have a
Each warfare officer/rating sits at a
predecessors which were chiefly designed for the There are no male/female messes, no male/ downside, however, a sort of Hotel California
three-screen computer terminal staring at
Atlantic. female heads and showers. Loos, wash basins, syndrome.
full-colour screens.
Air conditioning isn’t particularly headline-grabbing showers, messes are unisex. “Once sailors get into Type 45s, they
Don’t expect X-Box and PlayStation
(unless it packs up). Junior rates don’t just have a fridge for their tinnies will not want to go back to the rest of the
graphics, however. Aircraft moving around
But the media did make a great deal of fuss of Daring in future, they have a proper bar, TV room, mess, plus a Fleet – and that’s not being derogatory
on the Sampson display remain little more
as the first ‘iPod warship’. ‘quiet zone’ for reading and studying. to the 42s and 23s,” explains Cdr David
than blips.
“That’s a load of chutney,” says Cdr Shutts. It hasn’t, Officers enjoy the luxury of a single-berth cabin, a ward Shutts, Daring’s Marine Engineer Officer
From the Firth of Clyde, those blips
however, stopped it becoming media folklore... room and a dining room (like the carriers). As for that ’50s and Senior Naval Officer.
could be tracked approaching Glasgow
Sailors do not have sockets for the portable music players chintz which dogs the Fleet, well both rooms have yet to be “It doesn’t get any better than this.
and Edinburgh airports. (Tests of Sampson
in their bunk spaces. kitted out.
Serving in the most advanced warship in
in the Solent have followed aircraft in the
They do, however, have an internet connection, and a plug We can but hope...
the world, where do you go next?”
0024-025_NN_Sept.indd 224-025_NN_Sept.indd 2 117/8/07 14:54:327/8/07 14:54:32
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