BOOK REVIEW

DARING CLASS DESTROYERS

By Neil McCart

Published by Maritime Books, Lodge Hill, Liskeard, Cornwall, PL14 4EL

(Ph. 01579 343663 or Fax 01579 346747)

 25 Pounds sterling ( 28 Pounds sterling  incl. P&P)  Hardback 240 pages with 115 photographs (190x240mm)

"Daring Class Destroyers" is an impressive publication, the latest volume by Neil McCart, an old destroyer man himself who served eleven years in the Royal Navy.  Since leaving the Navy he has written extensively for maritime magazines and is the author of over 20 books on British passenger liners and major ships of the Royal Navy.

  The book states at the outset, "Of all the Royal Navy's post-war destroyers, the class which epitomized the 1950s and 1960s was, without doubt, the Daring class."

 The same could also be said for the Royal Australian Navy as, of the eleven ships of this class launched, three were specifically built for the RAN.

  As part of the Admiralty's 1944 programme for what was broadly called "modified Battle class destroyers", it was originally intended that the new class would comprise 16 warships.  However, when the atomic bombs dropped on two Japanese cities brought an end to the Second World War, the requirement for the modified Battle class was halved.  The RN's eight destroyers that subsequently became known as the Daring class were followed by an additional three sister ships built by the RAN.  The Australian Commonwealth Government ordered the new warships with due acknowledgement that they were to have the striking power of light cruisers and announced that they would all be built in Australia.

  This new class represented the ultimate in warship design.  Their main armament of six Mk VI 4.5 inch guns in fully enclosed twin turrets was intended for automatic aiming and a sustained high rate of fire.  In addition, they were fitted with six 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and were originally armed with either five or ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in one or two mountings.  Aft they were fitted with Squid or Limbo triple-barrelled depth-charge mortars for anti-submarine warfare.  The unique funnel configuration and distinctive "clipper" bow enhanced the appearance from afar of these handsome ships.  Below deck there were also subtle changes.  The Darings incorporated a number of innovations and in fact were the first warships to be fitted throughout with fluorescent lighting.

  On August 15^th, 1945, six weeks after the abrupt end to WWII, the first keel plates of the lead destroyer were laid.  HMS Daring, from which the new class of destroyer took its name, was launched on August 10^th, 1949.

  In his book, Neil McCart has provided the reader with a chapter devoted to each of the destroyers, with comprehensive details of their careers and ultimate disposal.  The destroyer Duchess has received coverage in two separate chapters, one for her RN service and another for her time with the RAN, serving with her sisters Vampire and Vendetta after the untimely loss of HMAS Voyager.  (It may also be of interest to Australian readers to learn that a fourth destroyer, Waterhen, was laid down at Williamstown Dockyard in 1952, but was cancelled and scrapped on slip in 1954.)  An appendix details technical data about the eleven ships, including the progressive changes to their configuration and armament.

  Daring class destroyers saw the final transition from the big-gun era to the age of the guided missile.  Only HMAS Vampire survives as an example of the 11 RN and RAN Daring class, which were designed in the Second World War and built in the 1940s and 1950s.  She now spends her days in Sydney's Darling Harbour at her berth alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum. 

  Today, those who served in these fine vessels look back on them with pride and admiration.  Now they have the opportunity to experience even more.  For warship enthusiasts, the book has a wealth of black and white photos to salivate over, and the whole publication is presented in a colorful, glossy dust jacket.

  This book is not cheap at an Australian equivalent of around $75 which includes postage to this country.  But for devotees of naval history or down-to-earth warship buffs, it is a must to own.  Certainly, every "ex-Daring man" will want this appealing book as part of his library.

  As Daring Class Destroyers has only recently been published, it may be a little time before finding its way onto the stock lists of nautical book suppliers.  However the publishers, Maritime Books in the UK, will be pleased to receive credit card sales or enquiries.  Their website can be visited at www.navybooks.com.

Reviewed by Dave Rickard