Daring Class destroyers

[Weaver]

The Royal Navy built eight Daring class destroyers just after the war, and a further three were built in Australia. The Royal Navy took the view that they were too small to be worth modernising and discarded them at the end of the 1960s. However the RAN used them into the 1980s and Peru bought two of the RN ones and used one into the '90s and the other into the 21st century, having given them significant refits.

I've never bought the argument that they were too small to refit, primarily due to the example of the French T-47 class. This early '50s design was an almost perfect "French Daring" of very similar size, armament and character. Where the two diverge, however, is that the French Navy extensively refitted nine of their ships, four as AAW escorts with Tartar and five as ASW ships with Malafon. Given that Tartar was originally developed partly at the request of the RN, it's not a very big stretch to imagine them actually buying it and refitting it into the Darings in similar fashion.

Here's my take on what such a conversion might have looked like:



A position: Twin 4.5" Mk.6 turret replaced by twin 3" Mk.6
B position: Twin 4.5" Mk.6 turret replaced by Squid (displaced from stern) in sliding weather shield
P+S behind bridge: Twin 40mm Bofors replaced by quad Seacat
Forward mast: Type 992 TI radar added on revised platform
Aft funnel: converted to mack like foremast with AKE-1 aerial for Type 965 air search radar
X position: CRBFD and twin 40mm replaced by P+S GWS-20 directors (Seacat) and tandem SPG-51s (Tartar)
Y position: Twin 4.5" Mk.6 replaced by Mk.13 launcher for Tartar SAM

[Weaver]

This shows how the T-47s were converted.

1. Original configuration. There are twin 5" guns in A, X and Y positions and twin 57mm in B position and port and starboard amidships. twelve 21" torpedoes (6 long, 6 short) are carried in sided triple banks, and there's a sextuple 375mm ASW rocket launcher in between X turret and the midship 57s:




2. AAW conversion. All the 5" turrets have been landed and the rocket launcher moved to A position. The Mk.13 launcher for Tartar is in X position with the targeting and search radars forward of it:




3. ASW conversion. All the original turrets have been removed and replaced by two 100 Mod.1968 guns in A and X position. The rocket launcher is now in B position, a hanger for Malafon occupies the aft part of the superstructure, and the launcher itselfis on the quarter deck with a VDS on the stern:

[Weaver]

Now here's a standard Daring. Note the similarities to the T-47: three medium calibre guns (4.5" Mk.6), three AAA mounts (twin 40mm), eight torpedoes (centreline) and an ASW mortar (Squid - right aft):





Here's what Peru did with theirs. Ferre (ex HMS Decoy) had a helo pad and eight MM-38 Exocets added aft, and her AAA replaced by two Breda-Bofors Fast Forty turrets. She remained in service until 2007!





Palacios (ex HMS Diana) had the same mods, plus her X turret was replaced with a small helo hangar:

[PR19_Kit]

Must have been scary landing a chopper on the Ferre with those twin 5" pointing straight at you! I'd have wanted FIRM assurances that the gun crew were elsewhere.........

[Weaver]

Must have been scary landing a chopper on the Ferre with those twin 5" pointing straight at you! I'd have wanted FIRM assurances that the gun crew were elsewhere.........

Probably rotated the guns 180 deg to face forward for extra clearance. Mind you, the gun crew would want the Exocet circuit breakers in their pockets before doing it....

[Fulcrum]

Must have been scary landing a chopper on the Ferre with those twin 5" pointing straight at you! I'd have wanted FIRM assurances that the gun crew were elsewhere.........

Probably rotated the guns 180 deg to face forward for extra clearance. Mind you, the gun crew would want the Exocet circuit breakers in their pockets before doing it....

At least it is a perfect way of repeling heliborne boarders !!!

[rickshaw]

The Australian Darings - VOYAGER, VAMPIRE and VENDETTA are nicely modelled by Ozmods in various scales from 1/350, 1/600 and 1/700 (scroll to the bottom of the page).

[Weaver]

Cheers Rickshaw, they look very nice. The Aus ones kept the same armament as the RN ones, but they got new Dutch radars (similar suite to the Aus Leanders) at refit. I've read that at least one of them acquired a Seacat mounting too, but there doesn't seem to be much into on that.

Here's another odd link between Darings and T-47s: both classes lost one ship to a collision with a bigger ship during an ill-advised maneuver. On the night of 10 February 1964, HMAS Voyager crossed the bows of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and was rammed and sunk with the loss of 82 lives, while on 6 June 1971, Surcouf was rammed accidentally and cut in two when she cut across the Soviet tanker General Busharov, with the loss of ten lives.

[pyro-manic]

The Aussie Darings also got modded superstructures, with enclosed bridges and other modifications to accommodate the new radars etc. I went on Vampire at the Maritime Museum in Sydney a few years ago - pretty ship.

[Weaver]

The Aussie Darings also got modded superstructures, with enclosed bridges and other modifications to accommodate the new radars etc. I went on Vampire at the Maritime Museum in Sydney a few years ago - pretty ship.

Indeed. Actually, I was wrong about the armament: the Aussie Darings had two twin and two single 40mm and Limdo aft rather than Squid.

[Joe C-P]

It's a shame the RN didn't create a single-arm launcher for the Sea Dart, to upgrade such vessels, and perhaps the Count class DDs.

[pyro-manic]

I'm sure it could have been done with a little work. Could give all those Leanders a new lease of life as well!

[Cliffy B]

The Aussie Darings also got modded superstructures, with enclosed bridges and other modifications to accommodate the new radars etc. I went on Vampire at the Maritime Museum in Sydney a few years ago - pretty ship.

Indeed. Actually, I was wrong about the armament: the Aussie Darings had two twin and two single 40mm and Limdo aft rather than Squid.

Ooooo, you wouldn't happen to have a high-res version of that photo would you?

[Jschmus]

I was just checking, and I found that Ozmods of Australia offer  a number of kits representing the Daring class in Australian service.In 1/350 they do  HMAS Vampire, with markings for Vendetta and Voyager.  In 1/600 they do HMAS Voyager and HMS/HMAS Duchess.  In 1/700 they have separate kits of Vampire and Vendetta, though both kits seem the same.  They're not cheap, but they look decent.

http://www.layuqwam.com.au/Ozmods/Complete.html

[Cliffy B]

I was just checking, and I found that Ozmods of Australia offer  a number of kits representing the Daring class in Australian service.In 1/350 they do  HMAS Vampire, with markings for Vendetta and Voyager.  In 1/600 they do HMAS Voyager and HMS/HMAS Duchess.  In 1/700 they have separate kits of Vampire and Vendetta, though both kits seem the same.  They're not cheap, but they look decent.

http://www.layuqwam.com.au/Ozmods/Complete.html

http://www.pacificfront.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=172

Found them over on PacFront for a good price.  The 1/700 are only $46 but the 1/350 is $175.  The 1/700 is comparable to others in the scale but the 1/350 is tad pricey.  Regardless they both look great!  I might have to go get one now