24 NAVY NEWS, DECEMBER 2009
marina Continued from page 23
Despite such lengthy and distinguished service, “We can sit off Portsmouth in the exercise areas a bit underwhelmed by the bland interior. Lots of (Fully Integrated Communications System) which blo
he’s never once appeared in these pages. “Cycle and watch a Thursday War raging off Plymouth,” white space, a couple of pictures of the Queen and remember who you are courtesy of a PIN number
rides, you name it, I’ve taken part in it, but they’ve explains fi ghter controller Lt Alex Kopsahlis. Duke of Edinburgh, more white space. and allow you to talk to the people in your ch
always managed to chop my head off in the “You can see the Hawks and Falcons at FOST department, wherever you – or they – are. Hatches be
picture…” moving into position – well outside the range of SO, it’s good there’s all that technology to impress. are fi tted with sensors which report whether they’re are
So, time for those belated 15 minutes of fame… the 42s down there. They cannot get outside our And nothing catches the eye more than launching closed or not – especially useful when carrying out
He’s our guide for a tour of ‘his’ parts of the ship range.” the sea boat. nuclear/biological/chemical drills. Sailors still do JP
– the weapons systems. So let’s begin with Daring’s Rather impressive. Until you come to fi x the thing. Enormous side shutters lift up (like a fanciful the rounds to make checks, however; technology, Ge
raison d’être, the missile silo. It’s housed in a very high compartment… well out of garage door), hydraulically-powered rail guards particularly in wartime, isn’t infallible.
At present, it’s empty – Sea Viper is still being reach of any maintainer. Some form of mezzanine drop, then an ‘arcade grabber arm’ swings the RIB The days of the damage control board are gone. the
tested. But even an empty silo gives you an fl oor will probably have to be built so the engineers out, the grabber lets go and the boat is lowered. No more scribbling fi res or fl oods on a diagram of sta
impression of the size of the weapon around which can work on it. It’s all directed by a sailor with a control panel the ship. pla
Daring is built. strapped to his waist, a small joystick to guide the Instead, damage to a compartment is marked on
The missiles are 13ft 6in tall. Their silo is four IT’S these shortcomings which you only fi nd out grabber and a handful of buttons. a computer graphic of Daring – a graphic which can co
decks high. Huge funnels tower up to the deck head about living and working on Daring. If the designers All that’s missing is the Thunderbirds be accessed throughout the ship. No need to check jus
to vent exhaust gases when the weapon is fi red. got that one wrong, they got a lot right. soundtrack… with the various damage control parties to make
In layman’s terms, Sea Viper is a cross between A generation ago, a young Dick Whittington It might look a bit over–engineered, but it’s sure that the boards are up to date, no need perhaps ET
Seawolf and Sea Dart. It’s vertically launched went down to the Falklands in Hermes. The not been included so sailors can re-enact for the XO to rush around the ship in a battle double the
(Seawolf). It’s got a bloody great booster (Sea Dart). carrier had 33 different magazines. Daring a Tracy Island fantasy, but to minimise the checking everything. his
But it’s also got pif-paf technology (pilotage induit has a dozen – and there’s the thing: the destroyer’s signature (to prying electronic Instead, the XO is likely to be where he/she should sh
en force/pilotage aérodynamique en force). magazines are next to the weapons they eyes she should look like a fi shing vessel). be in battle: on the bridge.
Pif are actually tiny explosive devices which serve, not fi ve decks down and x-many From Thunderbirds to Star Trek and the And what a bridge. Its large windows offer be
manoeuvre the rocket. Paf is the rudder system. compartments forward or aft. Ship Control Centre. panoramic views only Endurance or the RFAs can JR
Combined they allow the missile to perform turns of “I think the only similarity with Hermes The SCC – typically a wall, or walls, of match. for
up to 50G on fi nal approach to an incoming target. is the awful upholstery,” sighs Lt lights, dials, meters which break down a Small though the windows on a Type 22, 23, 42
“The puff comes when you launch it,” Lt Whittington. “It must be a challenge to vessel’s innards into schematic form – is are, what also strikes you about their bridges is the To
Whittington points out. fi nd out how far it goes.” most defi nitely ‘beam me up, Scotty’. plethora of blue-grey casing. It looks dated (even if Ju
And it’s a big puff. Apparently. “It’s noisy, It’s a challenge which the RN interior Gone is the analog. All hail the digital as what’s inside the box is hi-tech). gu
extremely fast, the vibration is tremendous. Pretty designers have risen to with aplomb for the watchkeepers sit behind three bulbous the
spectacular,” Lt Whittington adds. decades. Sadly. Star Trek consoles. They perform exactly the same ON DARING, black is the new blue-grey. It looks
Eighty per cent of Daring might be new, but not function as the old banks, except on a computer modern (and hopefully what’s inside the black sto
NEXT to the radars – two of which catch the eye. the décor. That patterned chintz which looks like screen. A couple of clicks and you have all you need boxes is hi-tech…). co
There’s the long-range radar (that big black slab your Grandma’s tea cosy still adorns seats and to know about the starboard diesel – temperature, But sometimes decades-old technology can’t be Ha
turning on the aft end of the superstructure) which benches. pressure and the like. bettered.
picks up aircraft up to 250 miles away; fi re it up in Warships are, by their nature, er warry. But you It’s the same in the operations room – which is In the growing gloom of an autumnal dusk in the the
Portsmouth, and you could watch aircraft landing also have to live in them for six months at a time – how you expect a 21st-Century operations room to Solent, the Aldis lamp on the bridge wing is fi red de
and taking off from Charles de Gaulle, Manchester, they are home as much as a place of work. be. Not dark and dingy, but airy, and packed with up to talk with HMS Richmond, a good four or fi ve
or on fi nal approach at Schipol. So for all the technology, for all those Top Trumps PCs. miles away: me
All well and good. But the long-range radar only facts, Daring feels a rather sterile environment. Operations room staff are faced with a bank of G O O D E V E N I N G N I C E T O S E E It’s
gives you the big picture. You want to track that Dining in the ward room is more like dining in a three large computer screens, keyboard and a big Y O U. en
cricket ball travelling at Mach 3 (the gee-whizz fact works canteen, resting your plate on a (very cheap) rollerball (which acts like a mouse) A brief pause, then Richmond responds: a m
always wheeled out about Daring)? You’re going to MFI table. “It didn’t take long for the kids coming through T O S E E Y O U N I C E. on
need a more accurate radar. Now we’re not suggesting in these strained at Navy Days to grasp the basics – click the button, The Morse lamps aren’t the only throwback to
Here’s where the spinning egg comes in, that six- economic times that we lavish thousands of pounds move the scroller,” says gunnery offi cer Lt Dave days of yore. a
tonne spiked ball on top of Daring’s main mast. In on swanky tables and chairs so a few chaps and Thompson. Daring’s foc’s’le might be enclosed (again to it’s
(very) simple terms, it allows the ops room team to chapesses with braid on their sleeves can relax in “It is extremely user-friendly. I like it.” eliminate those bumps and edges which affect the se
‘zoom in’ on threats. comfort. There’s a lot of such user-friendliness around radar cross section) but weighing anchor is still ‘qu
How good is it? But as a showpiece for the UK, well, you’re left Daring. There are hi-tech telephone consoles manpower-intensive. It still demands sweat and De
May
May
Bump
ed int
April
April o our f
Went in search of bad
affiliat
ello
w Birmingham
e, HMS Exploit. She’
... and with the 4.5in. W
smaller than us – honest.
s a lot
A sp
ot of gunnery
weather for helicopter
w
eather
asn’t t
oo b
ad.
training with the 30mm
trials. Found it, sadly.
cannon...
WAFUs were happy...
Daring.indd 2 18/11/09 18:47:10
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