:HMS Daring (H16)
{{other ships|HMS Daring}}
{{short description|D-class destroyer}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=DARING (H16).jpg |Ship caption=Daring in pre-war China Station white paint }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=Daring |Ship ordered=2 February 1931 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=John I Thornycroft, Southampton |Ship laid down=18 June 1931 |Ship launched=7 April 1932 |Ship christened= |Ship commissioned=25 November 1932 |Ship fate=Torpedoed and sunk by {{GS|U-23|1936|2}}, 18 February 1940 |Ship motto=*Splendide audax
|Ship nickname= |Ship badge=*On a Field Black, an arm and a hand in a cresset of fire all Proper |Ship identification=Pennant number: H16 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=as built |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1375|LT|t|lk=on}} (standard) |Ship length={{convert|329|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} o/a |Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
|Ship propulsion=*2 × shafts: 2 × geared steam turbines |Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|5870|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}} |Ship complement=145 |Ship sensors=ASDIC |Ship armament=*4 × single 4.7 inch QF Mark XIIs
}} |
HMS Daring was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was briefly commanded by Louis Mountbatten before World War II. Daring escorted convoys in the Red Sea in October–November 1939 and then returned to the UK in January 1940 for the first time in five years. While escorting a convoy from Norway, she was sunk by the {{ship|German submarine|U-23|1936|6}} in February 1940.
Description
Daring displaced {{convert|1375|LT|t}} at standard load and {{convert|1890|LT|t}} at deep load. The ship had an overall length of {{convert|329|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|33|ft|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|12|ft|6|in|m|1}}. She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of {{convert|36000|shp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}. Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Daring carried a maximum of {{convert|473|LT|t}} of fuel oil that gave her a range of {{convert|5870|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. The ship's complement was 145 officers and men.Whitley, p. 102
The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Daring had a single 3-inch (76.2 mm) QF gun between her funnels and two {{convert|40|mm|1|adj=on}} QF 2-pounder Mk II guns mounted on the side of her bridge. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch torpedoes.Friedman, pp. 215, 299 One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.English, p. 141
Career
Daring was ordered on 2 February 1931 under the 1930 Naval Estimates, and was laid down at John I Thornycroft's yard at Woolston, Southampton on 18 June 1931. She was launched on 7 April 1932 and completed on 25 November 1932, at a total cost of £225,536, excluding equipment supplied by the Admiralty, such as weapons, ammunition and wireless equipment. The ship was initially assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean and made a brief deployment to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in September–October 1933.English, pp. 51, 54 Lord Louis Mountbatten assumed command on 29 April 1934,{{cite web|url=http://www.navyhistory.org.au/destroyer-design-hms-kelly/|publisher=Naval Historical Society of Australia|title=Destroyer Design — HMS Kelly|date=4 December 1979 |access-date=7 April 2011}} and Daring was given a refit at Sheerness Dockyard from 3 September to 24 October to prepare the ship for service on the China Station.English, p. 54
In December 1934 she sailed to join the 8th Destroyer Flotilla in the Far East and served there until the outbreak of war. Upon the ship's arrival at Singapore, Lord Mountbatten was transferred to command {{HMS|Wishart|D67|6}} and Commander Geoffrey Barnard assumed command.{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/BARNARD.shtml|title=Survey of the Papers of Senior UK Defence Personnel, 1900-1975|publisher=King's College London: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|access-date=7 April 2011}}
The ship and her sisters {{HMS|Duncan|D99|2}}, {{HMS|Diana|H49|2}}, and {{HMS|Dainty|H53|2}} were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet shortly before World War II began in September 1939. Daring was kept in the Red Sea for escort and patrol work until November 1939. She was overhauled in Malta from 25 November to 20 December. The ship escorted the Union-Castle Line ocean liner SS Dunnottar Castle to Belfast in early 1940 and was under repair at Portsmouth until 25 January. Daring joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in Scapa Flow on 10 February 1940 for escort duties. While escorting Convoy HN12 from Norway, she was torpedoed on 18 February in position {{coord|58|39|N|01|40|W|display=title,inline}} by U-23, under the command of Otto Kretschmer. Daring capsized and sank very quickly after having her stern blown off; 157 of the ship's company were lost. One officer (Lawrence Andrew Rogers RN) and three ratings were picked up from a Carley float by the destroyer {{HMS|Inglefield|D02|2}} and landed at Scapa Flow on 20 February. One rating was rescued from wreckage by her sister {{HMS|Ilex|D61|2}}, assisted by the submarine {{HMS|Thistle|N24|2}} and landed at Rosyth on 19 February.{{cite web | url=https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/264.html | title=HMS Daring (H 16) (British Destroyer) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net }}
A model of HMS Daring by Norman A. Ough is held by the National Maritime Museum.{{cite web
|website=Royal Museums Greenwich
|title=Norman Ough's HMS Daring
|url=http://prints.rmg.co.uk/art/516090/hms-daring-br-1932
|access-date=3 September 2015
|archive-date=4 March 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101438/http://prints.rmg.co.uk/art/516090/hms-daring-br-1932
|url-status=dead
}}
Notes
{{reflist|2}}
References
- {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s|year=1993|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Kendal, UK|isbn=0-905617-64-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2009 |isbn=978-1-59114-081-8 |author-link=Norman Friedman}}
- {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998 |isbn=1-55750-048-7 |author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
- {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |year=2000| publisher=Cassell & Co.|location=London|isbn=1-85409-521-8|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
{{C and D class destroyer}}
{{February 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daring}}
Category:1932 establishments in England
Category:C and D-class destroyers
Category:Ships built in Southampton
Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime incidents in February 1940
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean