Type 45 destroyer
The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or Daring class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and is built around the PAAMS air-defence system using the SAMPSON Active electronically scanned array and the S1850M long-range radars. The first three destroyers were assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built at different shipyards; the remaining three were built by BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships. The first ship in the Daring class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009.
The Type 45 destroyers were built to replace the Type 42 destroyers that had served during the Falklands War, with the last Type 42 being decommissioned in 2013. The National Audit Office reported that, during an "intensive attack", a single Type 45 could simultaneously track, engage and destroy more targets than five Type 42 destroyers operating together. After the launch of Daring on 1 February 2006, Admiral Sir Alan West, then First Sea Lord, stated that it would be the Royal Navy's most capable destroyer ever, as well as the world's best air-defence ship. The reduction in the number to be procured from twelve, then to eight, finally with only six confirmed was controversial.
In 2016, it was revealed that due to a design flaw on the Northrop Grumman intercooler attached to the Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines, power availability was diminished considerably when functioning in the warm climate of the Persian Gulf, and it quickly became apparent that the class was not operating as originally envisioned. Therefore, a planned refit was scheduled from 2019 to 2021 to fully resolve the problems with the six ships in the class.
Under current plans, the Type 45 destroyer will be replaced by the Type 83 destroyer, the first of which is expected to enter service in the late 2030s.
Development
The UK had sought to procure a new class of air-defence guided-missile destroyers in collaboration with seven other NATO nations under the NFR-90 project; the project collapsed due to varying requirements of the different countries involved. The UK then joined France and Italy in the programme; however, differing national requirements, workshare arguments and delays led to the UK withdrawing on 26 April 1999 and starting its own national project. On 23 November 1999, Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence arm of General Electric and in the process of merger with British Aerospace since January, was confirmed as the prime contractor for the Type 45 project. Seven days later, MES and BAe completed the merger forming BAE Systems, making the latter the prime contractor.The Type 45 project has been criticised for rising costs and delays, with the six ships costing £6.46 billion, an increase of £1.5 billion on the original budget. The first ship entered service in 2010, rather than 2007 as initially planned. In 2007, the Defence Select Committee expressed disappointment that the Ministry of Defence and BAE had failed to control rising costs.
Construction
The Type 45 destroyers take advantage of Horizon development work and use the Sea Viper air-defence system and the SAMPSON radar. The ships were built by BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships, which subsequently became BVT Surface Fleet with the merger of the surface shipbuilding arms of BAE Systems and VT Group. These two companies had previously built the ships in collaboration. BAE's two Glasgow shipyards and single Portsmouth shipyard were responsible for different "blocks". BAE's Govan yard built Block A. The Scotstoun yard built Blocks B/C and Block D. BAE's Portsmouth shipyard was responsible for Blocks E/F, funnels, and masts. For ships two to six, blocks A–D were assembled in the Ships Block and Outfit Hall of the Govan shipyard and taken fully outfitted to the Scotstoun berth. The masts and funnels were also fitted before launch.For the first-of-class, Block A was assembled at Govan and moved to Scotstoun, where it was mated to Block B/C, which was already fitted with the WR-21 turbines and machinery. Block D, also assembled at Scotstoun, was fitted to these three blocks. The bow sections were mated at HMNB Portsmouth and taken by barge to Scotstoun. These were the final blocks to be attached. At this point, the hull was launched into the Clyde and towed to the Scotstoun Dry Dock, where the masts and funnels were fitted. Once this was complete, the remaining equipment was fitted: radar arrays, bow-mounted sonar, propellers, missile equipment, and the 4.5-inch gun.
This modular construction arrangement was agreed upon in February 2002. However, when the original contract for three ships was signed in July 2000, BAE Systems Marine was to build the first and third ships, and VT Group was to build the second.
By the end of 2010, all six Type 45 destroyers had been launched, with the first two in commission and the remainder fitting out. By 2012, all destroyers were structurally complete and the production lines, had been closed., the last of the Type 45 destroyers, was commissioned at Portsmouth Naval Base on 26 September 2013 and entered service in 2014 after trials and training.
The Daring class are the largest escorts ever built for the Royal Navy in terms of displacement.
In 2009, delivery of the ships' Aster missiles was delayed due to a manufacturing fault with a single batch of missiles identified during testing.
Characteristics
General specifications
The Type 45 destroyers are in length, with a beam of, a draught of and a displacement of approximately. This makes them significantly larger than the Type 42 they replaced. The Type 45 destroyers are the first British warships built to meet the Lloyd's Register's Naval Ship Rules for hull structure requiring design approval by Lloyd's Register for the principal structural arrangements of the vessel. BAE Systems is the Design Authority for the Type 45, a role traditionally held by the Ministry of Defence. The design of the Type 45 brings new levels of radar signature reduction to the Royal Navy. Deck equipment and life rafts are concealed behind the ship's superstructure panels, producing a "clean" superstructure. The mast is also sparingly equipped externally. Speculation by the press suggests that this design gives the ship the radar cross-section of a small fishing boat.The Daring class is notable for being the first Royal Navy vessels to include gender-neutral living spaces to accommodate male and female crew members; communal shower and heads facilities have given way to individual cubicles, and six-person berths for junior ratings are far more flexible in accommodating a mixture of male and female sailors. Men and women will continue to sleep in separate spaces, in common with most other navies.
Propulsion and power
The Type 45 is fitted with an advanced and innovative integrated electric propulsion system. Integrated electric propulsion seeks to supply all propulsion and the ship's electrical load using alternating current at a high quality of voltage and frequency. This is achieved by computerised control, high-quality transformation, and electrical filtering. Two Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines drive GE alternators, and along with two Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel generators, provide electrical power at 4,160 volts to a GE high voltage system. The high voltage supply is then used to power two GE Power Conversion advanced induction motors with outputs of each. Ship's services, including hotel load and weapons system power supplies, are supplied via transformers from the high voltage supply at 440 V and 115 V. The benefits of integrated electric propulsion are cited as:- Placing the electric motors closer to the propeller, shortening the shaft line and removing the need for a gearbox or controllable pitch propellers, and reducing exposure to action damage.
- Ability to arrange machinery in more convenient locations away from the shaft line, reducing space lost to funnels, and improving access for maintenance.
- Flexibility in running propulsion and ship services from any combination of prime movers, reducing engine running hours and emissions.
- Ability to distribute prime mover power between services and propulsion can accommodate future increases in service and weapon loads with minimal impact on ship speed or prime movers.
Faults
In January 2016, the Ministry of Defence acknowledged that the propulsion system was unreliable, with the BBC reporting that "total electric failures are common".The Rolls Royce WR-21 gas turbine itself is of a sound design: however, the Northrop Grumman intercooler unit "has a major design flaw" and causes the WR-21s to fail occasionally. When this happens, the electrical load on the diesel generators can become too great, and they 'trip out', leaving the ship with no source of power or propulsion. The First Sea Lord, Admiral Philip Jones, clarified that the "WR-21 gas turbines were designed in extreme hot weather conditions to what we call 'gracefully degrade' in their performance, until you get to the point where it goes beyond the temperature at which they would operate... we found that the resilience of the diesel generators and the WR-21 in the ship at the moment was not degrading gracefully; it was degrading catastrophically, so that is what we have had to address".
While the Ministry of Defence does not release detailed information related to the number of problems experienced by the class, including total engine failure, several such occasions have been reported in the media. Daring broke down in November 2010 and April 2012, Dauntless in February 2014 and Duncan in November 2016. In November 2017, The Register reported that a Type 45 destroyer had been recalled to Britain with propeller problems, leaving the Royal Navy's traditional "east of Suez" deployment without proper warship cover. It was stated that "HMS Diamond is on her way back to the UK after a propeller problem proved too much for the ship's crew to repair on their own."
On 21 March 2018, the MoD announced the award of the £160 million "Power Improvement Project" contract to BAE Systems, BMT Defence Services, and Cammell Laird to remove the two current diesel generators and install three larger diesel generators at the latter's shipyard in Birkenhead. Replacement or rectification of the WR-21s was not a practical option. With the new diesel generators, the Type 45 needs to rely on the WR-21s only for higher-speed running and always with graceful degradation to cruising without catastrophic loss of power. Dauntless arrived at Cammell Laird on 6 May 2020 to become the first ship to start the PIP upgrade. Completion of the upgrade of all six ships is planned by the mid-2020s.