Daring class destroyer (1949)
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HMS Delight | |
| Daring-classs | 
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| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,830 tons standard / 3,820 tons full load |
| Length: | 390 ft (119 m) |
| Beam: | 53 ft (16.2 m) |
| Draught: | 13.6 ft (4.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons steam turbines (English Electric in RAN ships), 2 shafts, 2 boilers, 54,000 shp (40 MW) |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 297 |
| Armament: | 3 x twin 4.5 in (114 mm) guns
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The Daring class were an eight-ship class of destroyers of the Royal Navy (RN) that were laid down during and after World War II, though like many other classes, their construction was halted for quite a while, indeed, the Darings were not commissioned until the 1950s. Two of the ships, Danae and Delight, were originally part of the Battle-class, though only Delight, originally Ypres, then Disdain, before finally being renamed to Delight, was commissioned. Three ships, Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager, were built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and were known as the Voyager-class, with another ship, Duchess, being loaned, then subsequently sold to them.
There were nine cancelled ships of the Daring class in total; these were Danae, Demon, Desire, Desperate, Doughty, Dragon, Druid, Dogstar and Disdain.
The Darings were the largest destroyers then built at that time for the RN, at 390 ft (119 m), compared to the Battles at 379 ft (116 m), their predecessor, as-well as a full load displacement of 3,820 t which eclipsed the Battles 3,430 t. The Darings were the last conventional gun destroyers of the RN and fittingly were armed with three twin 4.5 in (114 mm) guns. The classs was also armed with 1 STAAG dual 40 mm gun, which was later replaced by two Mk5 dual 40 mm guns. The SeaCat missile launcher was fitted briefly to Diana, however, it was later removed and never fitted to the rest of the Darings.
The class saw faithful service with the RN and RAN for quite some time, seeing service in a number of conflicts. HMS Delight, and HMAS Duchess, Vampire and Vendetta took part in the Indonesian Confrontation, with Vendetta also seeing service during the Vietnam War in 1970. Sadly, tragedy struck in peacetime, when in 1964, HMAS Voyager was cut in half by the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and sank with the loss of eighty-one of her crew. The Darings received little modernisation during their time in the RN, and so, in the 1970s, all ships in RN service were decommissioned. Two ships, Decoy and Diana, were sold to Peru. The last RAN ship to be decommissioned was Vendetta in 1987. Vampire is now a museum-ship at Darling Harbour, Sydney.
| Daring-class destroyer |
| Royal Navy |
| Dainty | Daring | Decoy | Defender | Delight | Diamond | Diana | Duchess |
| Royal Australian Navy |
| Duchess | Vampire | Vendetta | Voyager |