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According to newly released official stats, the six vessels clocked up 1,515 days in British docks in the year to this April. Four of the state-of-the-art ships remained berthed for more than 300 days each, the data obtained from a Freedom of Information request shows. Former head of the Navy Admiral Lord West said there was a "desperate need" to get the destroyers "out and doing their job". He said: "We are using Royal Fleet Auxiliary and offshore protection vessels to do jobs that historically would have been done with frigates or destroyers." The Ministry of Defence (MoD) insisted the...

"UNPRECEDENTED": HMS Duncan is one of the six powerful warships currently docked at Portsmouth Six £1billion Type 45 Destroyers - described as the backbone of Britain's marine defences - are not on operations, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. One senior Navy insider told how out was "almost unprecedented" that all the vessels should be docked. And the fact all six were in port at once could suggest "a gross lack of planning" or indicate "something more serious", the source warned Sky News. An insider revealed the ships had "just got back from operations, are about to go on operations...

Royal Navy's most advanced destroyers break down in the Gulf because the water is too WARM, bungling defence chiefs admit Britain's £1billion a piece Type-45 Destroyer ships break down in warm water and are being retrofitted with diesel generators, defence chiefs have admitted. Complicated Rolls Royce gas turbine engines work in the cold water around Britain but the vessels have been left adrift in the Gulf on several occasions because of failures. The problem first became apparent when HMS Daring lost all power in the mid-Atlantic in 2010 and had to repaired in Canada. The ship needed fixing again in...

Six of the Royal Navy's most modern warships - worth £1billion each - all need new engines because they keep breaking down, it was revealed today. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed that its Type 45 destroyers need holes cut in their sides during major refits. The ships, which have two engines already and are all less than ten years old, will need another engine to increase power amid concerns over their reliability. Troubled waters: HMS Daring, the first of six destroyers ordered by the Royal Navy, lost power in the Atlantic on her first voyage to the US...

The BAE Systems Sampson multi-function radar fitted to the Royal Navy’s fleet of Type 45 destroyers forms part of the Sea Viper naval air defence system, but it could also play a role in ballistic missile defence. Amid warnings of a growing threat of ballistic missile attacks against British targets, a recent series of tests were conducted to determine whether it fits the bill. Is there nothing the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers can't do? The six Daring-class vessels patrol the world's oceans, taking part in missions as diverse as counter-piracy, tackling drug smuggling, hunting submarines and, vitally, defending the...

HMS Duncan, the UK’s sixth Type 45 Destroyer, has entered into service with the Royal Navy four months ahead of schedule. The ship was scheduled to enter service in early 2014, but thanks to the hard work of both the ship’s company and industry since her arrival in Portsmouth, HMS Duncan is ready to take up duties. The 7,500 tonne vessel will now embark on a programme of trials to prepare the ship and her crew for operational deployment. HMS Duncan is the final Type 45 to enter service with the Royal Navy. Her handover to the Fleet marks the...

British Destroyer to Participate in U.S. Missile Defense Trials Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers could join future missile intercept testing conducted by the U.S. missile defense agency (MDA), the British Ministry of Defence announced. MOD have teamed with UK industry-run Missile Defence Centre (MDC) to support the integration of Type 45 destroyers and its primary Sampson radar, as a sensor supporting ballistic missile defense networks. The Sampson radar is part of the vessels’ Sea Viper air and missile defense system. These tests will task the Sampson radar in detecting and tracking ballistic targets but will not include actual intercepts of...

Daring enjoys ‘truly amazing’ experience working with American carriers 20/03/2012 Britain’s most advanced warship, HMS Daring, has worked with two American aircraft carrier groups as her Gulf mission steps up a gear. The new destroyer has been showing off her air defence and fighter control prowess with the USS Carl Vinson and Abraham Lincoln and their task groups. Turning away from the most powerful surface ship in the world is the most advanced warship in the Royal Navy. On her maiden deployment, HMS Daring has worked with not one but two US Carrier Strike Groups – here the USS Carl...

Sailors' farewell to families as new Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring sets off on maiden deployment to the Middle East By Daily Mail Reporter Heading out to sea from Portsmouth, this is the Royal Navy’s newest and most hi-tech warship setting sail on its maiden deployment. A crowd of family members and well-wishers gathered to wave off HMS Daring as it left its home base for a seven-month mission to the Middle East. The warship is the first of the six new Type 45 destroyers being introduced to the fleet. Daring will take over from a frigate on station east...

BAE SYSTEMS : Enter the Dragon As The Fourth Type 45 Arrives In Portsmouth 31 Aug 2011 | Ref. 159/2011 Portsmouth, United Kingdom: DRAGON, the fourth Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyer built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy, has arrived in Portsmouth Naval Base, where she will be handed over to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) at a ceremony today. Members of the ship’s company will raise the white ensign for the first time onboard DRAGON, as the Head of Destroyers, Commodore Stephen Braham, formally accepts the destroyer on behalf of the MOD in Portsmouth, where she joins her...

Dragon roaring to life 06 January 2011 REMEMBER, remember the fifth of November. Not for any of that Guy Fawkes malarkey, but if you can cast your minds back two months it was the day when HMS Dragon first put to sea. The ship has now resumed fitting out and tests on the Clyde at Scotstoun with the engineers and ship’s company more than pleased with her performance on her first stint of sea trials. Indeed, the ship surpassed the 29kts top speed expected of her when the class was ordered a decade ago. She ‘throttled up’ to reach 32...

Super-destroyer to guard 2012 Games The navy is set to deploy its most advanced weapons against any 9/11-style attack David Leppard THE Royal Navy is on standby to deploy the world’s most advanced destroyer to protect the 2012 Olympics from a 9/11-style attack. Security chiefs are drawing up plans to moor one of the navy’s new Daring class of Type 45 destroyers in the Thames estuary. The ship, which boasts a sophisticated antiair missile system, would be ready to shoot down hijacked aircraft or small passenger jets flown towards London or the Olympic site by terrorists. Three Type 45 destroyers...

The Royal Navy's newest and most powerful Type 45 destroyer - Diamond - was launched today, Tuesday 27 November 2007, from BAE's shipyard at Govan, on the River Clyde. Thousands of local people turned out for the launch, including many local schoolchildren. The Type 45 destroyers are the larger and more powerful replacement for the existing Type 42s. The destroyer will carry the world-leading PAAMS system (Principal Anti-Air Missile System) which is capable of defending a Type 45 and ships in its company from multiple attacks by the most sophisticated anti-ship missiles.