Britain’s six Type 45 destroyers are the most advanced warships the nation has ever built. Their mission is to shield the Fleet from air attack using the Sea Viper missile which can knock targets out of the sky up to 70 miles away if necessary. The Type 45s can also be used as general-purpose warships; they have huge flight decks to accommodate helicopters up to the size of a Chinook. There’s enough space on board to host a Royal Marines detachment up to 60-men strong. As for the ship’s company, they enjoy ‘creature comforts’ only dreamed of by their forebears: no sailor lives in a mess square for more than six people and there are no communal heads (toilets) or showers. All Type 45s will be based in Portsmouth and will serve until around 2040.
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Current Location
British coastal waters
10:07 GMT - 21 December 2011
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Type 45 Destroyers
- Displacement
8000Tonnes
- Complement
185
- Range
7000miles
HMS Defender
HMS Defender is the fifth of the Navy’s six £1bn Type 45 destroyers – and is currently being built in Glasgow which is one of her two affiliated cities (the other is Exeter). She will be going to sea for trials in October this year and will be delivered to her home port of Portsmouth in July 2012.
After a further period of trials she is expected to join the Fleet early in 2013.
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