THE most sailor-friendly warship built for the Royal Navy was launched yesterday.

The firepower and capability of HMS Daring, the first of a new generation of destroyer, will make her one of the most advanced warships in the world, but her interior makeover will add comfort and a touch of class for her crew. The Type 45 destroyer, launched on the Clyde by the Countess of Wessex, has six-man cabins instead of large mess decks, more space for recreation and a purpose-built fitness centre.

Other “luxury” extras, all suggested by naval personnel, include CD players, iPod charging points and computer access. The ship has 110 bunk beds, 26 sofa beds and 22 single beds. Her fuel tanks have a volume equivalent to half an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and her onboard power plant can supply enough electricity to light a town of 80,000 people.

The D Class destroyer, the first of six ordered by the Ministry of Defence at a cost of about £6 billion, is replacing the ageing Type 42 destroyer. Although she is bigger than the Type 42, which came into service in 1978, advances in design and technology mean that she can go to sea with fewer crew members, 190 as opposed to 287.

Each new D class destroyer will also have more firepower than the Royal Navy’s combined fleet of eight Type 42 destroyers once she is installed. “One D class ship would be able to knock out the same number of targets as eight Type 42s because its missile system can track and attack multiple incoming aircraft and missiles,” a Navy source said.

HMS Daring, costing about £600 million, will be followed by HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond, HMS Dragon, HMS Defender and HMS Duncan. HMS Daring, launched at BAE Systems’ Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow, will not come into service until 2009.

More than 11,000 people watched the launch. Almost 700 tonnes of drag chains had to be used to stop the warship from hurtling into the nearby Braehead shopping centre on the south bank.

John Reid, the Defence Secretary, who attended the launch, said: “HMS Daring is the most powerful destroyer the UK has ever built. It’s a huge boost for the Royal Navy.”

Admiral Sir Alan West, the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, said: “Daring and her class will ensure the Royal Navy remains the best in the world, able to protect the UK’s interests worldwide in the 21st century.”

Despite Sir Alan’s enthusiasm, he has told the Government on several occasions that the Royal Navy will have too few frigates and destroyers under its current plans. The Navy is losing 12 warships and 1,500 personnel and the fleet of frigates and destroyers is being cut to 25. The Type 45 destroyer was born out of a failed European attempt to design and build a common frigate, called the Horizon project. The plan had been to join the French and the Italians to produce a warship for the three navies, but there was little agreement over design.

Only the missiles, called PAAMS (Principal Anti-Air Missile System), survived as a joint effort, and in 1999 Britain went its own way.

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