The most advanced warship in the world to date, HMS Daring, has departed from BAE Systems’ shipyard in Scotstoun on her maiden voyage down the River Clyde to begin sea trials off the west coast of Scotland.
Launched by HRH the Countess of Wessex in February 2006, HMS Daring is the first of six Daring class Type 45 destroyers being built for the Royal Navy. They will provide the British fleet and her allies with an unparalleled level of anti-air warfare capability through to the middle of the 21st century and will be the most capable warships of their type ever built.
She will be put through her paces by BAE Systems engineers and Royal Navy personnel, who will eventually form her permanent crew once she enters service in 2009.
BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions managing director Vic Emery said; “I am delighted that the Type 45 programme to date has been delivered on time, on budget and to the customer’s specification, underlining our commitment to supporting the operations of the UK Armed Forces.”
“HMS Daring's departure, bang on schedule, is yet another tribute to the outstanding performance of the Clyde workforce. It is a huge achievement by a team involving BAE Systems and Royal Navy personnel and another key milestone towards the entry into service of the world's most advanced warship.”
The Senior Naval Officer on board the ship, Commander David Shutts, said: “This is a great day for everybody who has been involved in the Type 45 Destroyer project.
“Both I and the rest of the Royal Naval ship’s company have been looking forward to this event for a long time. It’s not every day you take a First-of-Class warship to sea.”
Following her sea-trials, HMS Daring will return to the Clyde for on-going integration and testing, prior to hand-over to the customer by the end of 2008 and entering full service with the Royal Navy in 2009.
The Type 45 programme will provide the Royal Navy with a versatile destroyer capable of contributing to worldwide maritime and joint operations for much of the first half of this century. As well as providing a specialist air warfare capability, they will also afford the fleet a general-purpose multi-role platform capable of performing tasks from peace support and defence diplomacy through to high-intensity warfare.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Displacement c7350 tonnes deep displacement
Length 152.4m
Beam 21.2m
Speed 27 knots+
Range 7000 nautical miles at 18 knots
Type 45 has more than 20,000 power and data cables, stretching some 620kms. Laid end-to-end they would stretch from the Clyde yards in Glasgow to the MOD offices at Abbey Wood near Bristol.
The ship will be 44 metres from keel to the top of the Sampson radar dome, which is the equivalent of a building which is 5 stories high or the height of Nelson’s Column.
The ships are built in modular sections, with first steel cut on Daring in August 2003.
The bow and mast sections are made by VT Shipbuilding in Portsmouth and transported over 500 miles to Glasgow by sea-going barge.
The Type 45 flight deck is large enough to park 20 London buses. More usefully, it is large enough to land a Chinook helicopter, although the ships will normally carry Merlin helicopters.
External communications include Internet and Video Conferencing while deployed anywhere in the world. Comprehensive internal communications including full "wirefree" communications for tasks such as fire-fighting.
PROPULSION
The Type 45 is the first front-line warship to use all-electric propulsion. The advantages of this is that you can run the whole ship (propulsion, weapons and hotel) off a single power plant at a reasonable speed (say, 18 knots). It is also more flexible through-life because there is no gearbox (which is a notorious source of mechanical problems and thus lay-ups)
Fewer Installed Prime Movers
Fewer Running Prime Movers
Simpler System (No CPP or Gearbox)
Fuel efficient gas turbines
Reduced Through Life Cost
THROUGH LIFE COSTS
The Type 45 is 45% more economical than the Type 42 that it replaces and can travel further using less fuel. The ships have been built with maintenance in mind so that later in the ship’s life cycle when repairs need to be made each vessel will spend less time in port. The best example of this is directly above the engine, where each level has an access plate that can be removed so that the engine can be lifted out without having to take the whole ship apart.
RANGE
A Type 45 has a range of around 7000 nautical miles – that’s New York and back without refuelling. Compare this to a Type 42 with a range of around 4000 nautical miles.
POWER
The WR21 gas turbines, with their state-of-the-art recuperators are about the most efficient out there. Between them, these engines produce 47MW, enough to power 70,000 homes, which is more than the city of Dundee.
STEALTH
The design incorporates stealth technology to reduce the chances of it being identified – this includes the cooling of exhaust gases to reduce the infra-red signature and avoiding the use of right angles – this reduces the radar signature to make the Type 45 appear to be the size of a fishing boat
MATERIALS
Although the Type 45 is one of the most advanced warships in the world it uses many standard materials from commercial shipbuilding, this allows the maximum possible investment in the defensive systems.
RADAR
The long range radar has a range of hundreds of kilometers. One of its main functions is to detect sea-skimming missiles and it is one of the most advanced in the world. When testing the Long Range Radar, the equipment picked up all of the inward and outward bound flights from several major European airports including Charles de Gaulle in Paris, London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Schiphol in Amsterdam.
PAAMS
The principle anti-missile system can deal with multiple targets simultaneously and is the most advanced system of its kind in the world. It can identify and deal with more threats simultaneously and deploys missiles more quickly and effectively. The system can identify, track and ultimately destroy a threat the size of a cricket ball traveling at three times the speed of sound.
MISC
The MISC facility was built in Portsmouth and is a purpose built combat system integration, test and trials facility.
ASTER MISSILES
The missiles are 20 times more maneuverable than a Formula 1 car (pulling over 60G)
LIVING ON BOARD
The Type 45 offers each crewmember an average of 37% more space than on previous ships with the amount of space now equivalent to the passenger space onboard commercial ferries.
Type 45 is also the first UK warship with a dedicated gym onboard.
39% increase in crew space
Officers in Single Cabins
YOs in 2 Berth Cabins
SRs in Single/2Berth Cabins
JRs in 6 Berth Cabins
