Destroyers are part of the backbone of the Royal Navy, committed around the world 365 days a year hunting pirates, drug runners or submarines, defending the Fleet from air attack, and providing humanitarian aid after natural disasters
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Atlantic, Caribbean & USA
10:54 GMT - 23 May 2013
Atlantic, Caribbean & USA
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Destroyers
HMS Daring
HMS Daring is the first of the Navy’s six £1bn Type 45 destroyers and in early 2012 she was the first of class to deploy with a seven-month stint in the Gulf protecting shipping and working with regional partners, spending 139 days at sea, visiting 12 different countries, and travelling more than 34,643 nautical miles.
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HMS Daring
HMS Daring is the first of the Navy’s six £1bn Type 45 destroyers and in early 2012 she was the first of class to deploy with a seven-month stint in the Gulf protecting shipping and working with regional partners, spending 139 days at sea, visiting 12 different countries, and travelling more than 34,643 nautical miles.
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HMS Dauntless
HMS Dauntless, the second of the Type 45 destroyers, joined the Fleet in November 2010, shortly after being the first of class to fire the new Sea Viper missile.
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HMS Diamond
HMS Diamond is the third of Britain's fleet of six Type 45 destroyers. Launched on the Clyde by our sponsor, Lady Johns, in November 2007, the ship arrived in Portsmouth in the autumn of 2010 and was commissioned in the spring of 2011. She deployed in June 2012 on her maiden deployment to the Gulf and was the last RN ship home before Christmas. Her New Year begins with some well-earned rest and recuperation.
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HMS Defender
HMS Defender is the fifth of the Navy’s six state-of-the-art Type 45 destroyers – Defender was built in Glasgow which is one of her two affiliated cities (the other is Exeter). After delivery to her home port of Portsmouth in July 2012 and acceptance into the Fleet in March 2013, she is now undergoing extensive sea trials and training in order to undertake operational duties anywhere in the world when tasked.
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HMS Edinburgh
HMS Edinburgh – known as the ‘Fortress of the Sea’ – is the nation’s last Type 42 destroyer, a veteran of the destroyer fleet known as the workhorses of the Royal Navy. The ship is currently taking on a range of tasks across the breadth of the Atlantic, supporting counter-narcotic efforts in the seas around West Africa, and providing reassurance to UK territories and dependencies across the globe.
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HMS Liverpool
HMS Liverpool was the last survivor of the original Type 42 destroyers built in the 1970s and early 1980s. Known sometimes as the Crazy Red Chicken courtesy of the red Liver Bird on the ship’s badge, Liverpool was the last ‘shortened’ Type 42 in service with the Royal Navy. At the start of 2011, she was preparing herself to sail with the Responsive Force Task Group on the Cougar deployment. As the events in Libya developed, the tasking was changed to provide the UK contribution to the NATO Op Unified Protector.
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HMS Dragon
HMS Dragon is the fourth of the Navy’s six £1bn Type 45 destroyers – and the latest to be commissioned into the Fleet. She was launched 17 November 2008 by her Lady Sponsor – Mrs Susie Boissier. After successfully completing extensive trials, the destroyer was handed over to the Royal Navy and made her debut in Portsmouth in the late summer of 2011. She is due to deploy for the first time in spring this year.
Operations
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HMS Edinburgh bids farewell to affiliated city for the final time22/05/2013
HMS Edinburgh has slipped her lines from Ocean Terminal for the last time as she bade farewell to her affiliated city of Edinburgh today for the last time.
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Royal Navy puts great into British at Hamburg port festival16/05/2013
Making her first ever foreign visit, the Type 45 destroyer glided down the River Elbe alongside 300 other vessels which annually descend on Hamburg for the celebrations of the port’s opening. Dwarfing tugs, passenger boats and tall ships the Royal Navy’s newest warship HMS Defender brought a steely edge to Hamburg’s annual port festival of Hafengeburtstag.
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HMS Edinburgh arrives in adopted city for final farewell15/05/2013
As the sun rose on the sleeping city of Edinburgh this morning its namesake warship glided into Leith to say her final goodbye to the city before retiring from the fleet later this month.
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HMS Daring goes global15/05/2013
HMS Daring, one of the Royal Navy’s new-generation Type 45 destroyers, is gearing up for a wide-ranging deployment which takes her to the Far East – and beyond.
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HMS Edinburgh, returns to her namesake city for final ever visit13/05/2013
The Royal Navy’s last Type 42 destroyer, HMS Edinburgh, will visit her adopted namesake city this week for the final ever time before retiring from the Fleet later this month.
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