Godspeed to H.M.S. Daring

HMS Daring, the Royal Navy's newest and most advanced warship, was formally commissioned into the fleet on Thursday in front of the ship's sponsor, Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex.


The Daring is the first of six new air defence destroyers, which the Royal Navy are calling their "most capable destroyers ever". The ship is almost twice as big as the older destroyers it is replacing but requires a smaller crew - 190 sailors, compared with 280 personnel on the older ships. The new Type 45s are replacing the Navy's ageing fleet of Type 42 destroyers, such as HMS Glasgow.

As a former naval officer and commissioning crew member of HMCS Regina, I understand what it is like to assume the challenges and trials of a brand new warship. So God bless Her Majesty's Ship Daring and all who sail in her. I bid her fair winds and following seas.