Countess of Wessex in a Daring visit
HRH Sophie inspects work on major ongoing refit in role as royal sponsor
THE Countess of Wessex has visited Portsmouth Naval Base to meet the engineers and logisticians working on a major refit of HMS Daring, the Type 45 destroyer of which she is royal sponsor.
After arriving at 14 Dock where HMS Daring is moored, The Countess met Royal Navy and BAE Systems personnel who are supporting the refit.
The destroyer’s refit has included complete overhauls of propulsion and weapon systems, refurbishment of living quarters, plus upgrades to communications, radar and her safety equipment.
As a royal sponsor of the Royal Navy warship, the Countess has followed the progress of the lead Type 45 destroyer, having launched the ship on the Clyde in 2006 and last visited while Daring was on deployment to the Black Sea in 2017.
Lieutenant Commander Jason Wyatt, who is leading the refit support group, said: ‘As the senior naval officer of HMS Daring it was an honour to reacquaint Her Royal Highness with her ship and to show her the areas and machinery being overhauled. The Countess was able to reflect on her last visit to Daring in 2017 and she was impressed by the capability improvements made to the ship while docked in Portsmouth.
‘The Refit Support Group are custodians of Daring during this refit, but it is not just Royal Navy engineers who are revitalising Daring.
‘The Countess of Wessex recognised the special efforts of the wider Defence enterprise, including the DE&S, BAE Systems and wider defence industry involved in delivering such a complex feat of engineering which will deliver Daring back to operational readiness.’
HMS Daring will be in the programme for a weapons upgrade before 2030, with the addition of Sea Ceptor air defence missiles silos in all Royal Navy destroyers.