HMS Dragon (D35)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Dragon.

HMS Dragon in 2011
History
United Kingdom
Name	Dragon
Ordered	December 2000
Builder	BVT Surface Fleet
Yard number	1064[1]
Laid down	19 December 2005
Launched	17 November 2008
Sponsored by	Mrs. Susie Boissier
Commissioned	20 April 2012
Identification	Deck code: DN Pennant number: D35 International callsign: GMIA[2] IMO number: 4907866[3]
Motto	"We yield but to St George"
Status	In refit
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 45 Guided missile destroyer
Displacement	8,000[4] to 8,500 t (8,400 long tons; 9,400 short tons)[5][6][7]
Length	152.4 m (500 ft 0 in)
Beam	21.2 m (69 ft 7 in)
Draught	7.4 m (24 ft 3 in)
Installed power	2 × Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines, 21.5 MW (28,800 shp) each 2 × Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel generators, 2 MW (2,700 shp) each[8]
Propulsion	2 shafts integrated electric propulsion with 2 × Converteam electric motors, 20 MW (27,000 shp) each
Speed	In excess of 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)[9]
Range	In excess of 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h)[9]
Complement	191[10] (accommodation for up to 235)
Sensors and processing systems	SAMPSON multi-function air tracking radar (Type 1045) S1850M 3-D air surveillance radar (Type 1046) Raytheon Integrated Bridge and Navigation System 2 × Raytheon AHRS INS (MINS 2) 2 × Raytheon I-band Radar (Type 1047) 1 × Raytheon E/F-band Radar (Type 1048)[11] Ultra Electronics Series 2500 Electro-Optical Gun Control System (EOGCS)[12] Ultra Electronics SML Technologies radar tracking system Ultra Electronics/EDO MFS-7000 sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	UAT Mod 2.0 (2.1 planned)[13] AN/SSQ-130 Ship Signal Exploitation Equipment (SSEE) Increment F cryptologic exploitation system[14] Seagnat Naval Decoy IDS300 Surface Ship Torpedo Defence
Armament	Anti-air missiles: PAAMS air-defence system 48 × Sylver vertical launching system A50 for: Aster 15 missiles (range 1.7–30 km) Aster 30 missiles (range 3–120 km), to be upgraded with a ballistic missile defence capability,[15] called Sea Viper Evolution.[16] 24 × Sea Ceptor silos to be fitted starting on HMS Defender from 2026 for: 24 × surface-to-air missiles that will replace the Aster 15 missiles to allow all 48 × Sylver vertical launching systems to be used for Aster 30.][17][18][19] Anti-ship missiles: Harpoon Block 1C SSMs, originally fit (retired 2023);[20][21][22][23][24] being replaced with Naval Strike Missile starting on HMS Dauntless from 2024)[25][26][27] Guns: 1 × 4.5 inch Mark 8 naval gun 2 × DS30B Mk 1 30 mm guns[28] 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × 7.62 mm Miniguns (replaced by Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns as of 2023)[29] 6 × 7.62 mm general purpose machine guns
Aircraft carried	1–2 × Lynx Wildcat, armed with: Martlet multirole missiles, or Sea Venom anti-ship missiles (projected full operating capability from 2026)[30] or 2 × anti-submarine torpedoes or 1 × Westland Merlin,[31] armed with: 4 × anti-submarine torpedoes
Aviation facilities	Large flight deck Enclosed hangar

HMS Dragon is the fourth ship of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the Royal Navy. She was launched in November 2008 and commissioned on 20 April 2012.^[32]

Construction

Dragon's construction began at the then BAE Systems Naval Ships (later BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions) yard at Scotstoun on the River Clyde in December 2005, and by December 2007 the bow section was in place on the Govan slipway for mating with the other modules. Dragon launched from the slipway at Govan on 17 November 2008 at 3:00pm.^[33] Her sponsor was Mrs Susie Boissier, wife of Vice Admiral Paul Boissier, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Chief of Staff.^[34] She was fitted out at Scotstoun.

Sea trials

Dragon commenced her first set of contractor's sea trials on 5 November 2010.^[35]

Dragon entered her home port of Portsmouth for the first time on 31 August 2011.^[36]

Operational service

Dragon off Gibraltar in 2013

Dragon operating with HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2019

Dragon joined the Royal Navy Surface Fleet on Friday, 20 April 2012.^[37] On Friday 27 April, she made her maiden visit to Liverpool, staying for three days. She opened to the public on Saturday 28 April, with visitors able to see the inside of the ship, including the operations room.

In August 2013, it was reported Dragon was sailing with the USS Nimitz carrier group in the Arabian Sea, acting as the main point ship for aircraft control.^[38][39] In August 2013, several Typhoons from No. 6 Squadron RAF were exercising with Dragon and US fighters in the Persian Gulf.^[40] It sailed westward to the Eastern Mediterranean.^[41]

In April 2014, Dragon was deployed to waters north of Scotland, after sailing from Portsmouth to track the Russian warship Vice-Admiral Kulakov.^[42] She was part of the Royal Navy's Atlantic Patrol Tasking in late 2014, visiting places such as the South Georgia Islands, the Falkland Islands, and a transit through the Panama Canal.^[43]

October 2016, Dragon tracked two Russian corvettes in the Atlantic Ocean and Bay of Biscay during a major deployment of Russian naval forces near the United Kingdom.^[44]

On 11 February 2017, Dragon rescued the fourteen crew of the dismasted and adrift British yacht Clyde Challenger in the Atlantic Ocean 610 nautical miles (1,130 km) south west of Land's End, Cornwall.^[45] Clyde Challenger was subsequently scuttled.^[46]

A 26 November 2018 press-release claimed Dragon discovered a suspicious boat while on operation in the Middle East. Sailors and Royal Marines boarded the vessel, and found 148 bags containing 3,048 kg of hashish.^[47]

15 March 2019, Dragon made its seventh drug seizure: 224 kg of heroin from a fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea.^[48] During her time in the Arabian Sea, Dragon made eight drug busts and seized over eighteen tons of narcotics, a record for the number of successful busts and the total weight of drugs seized by a Royal Navy ship in the Middle East.

As of March 2019, HMS Montrose took over the current patrol role in the Middle East.^[49] HMS Montrose replaced Dragon in the Persian Gulf in March 2019.

HMS Dragon began her power improvement refit in March 2022 and is expected to return to service in late 2024.^[50]

Characteristics

Main article: Type 45 destroyer § Characteristics

Dragon features a red Welsh Dragon on each side of her bow, the only Royal Navy ship to be adorned in this way. The dragons were there when she was launched, but were removed in a 2011 refit. They were restored in 2016 following a fundraising campaign led by the British Warships Association.^[51]

Affiliations

• Cardiff, Wales^[52]
• York, England^[53]
• Wrexham, Wales^[54]
• The Royal Thames Yacht Club
• The Worshipful Company of Plaisterers^[55]
• The Welsh Livery Guild^[56]
• Royal Navy recognised Sea Scout Groups of http://www.tir-a-mor-scouts.org.uk which are 1st Barry Sea Scouts, 5th Barry Sea Scouts and 6th Barry Sea Scouts RN97
• South Wales District Sea Cadets
• The Dragon School

In popular culture

Dragon appeared in No Time to Die, the 25th film of the James Bond series.^[57] The film inaccurately depicts the Type 45’s Aster Surface-to-Air missiles^[58] as land attack missiles. Shooting for Dragon’s role in the film’s finale took place off the Faroe Islands in September of 2019.^[59]

Notes

References

1. "HMS Dragon". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
2. "Royal Navy Bridge Card, February 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
3. "World Shipping Register - Ship Index". Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
4. "Type 45 Destroyer". Royal Navy. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
5. "HMS Daring leaves Sydney after spectacular week of celebrations". Royal Navy. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
6. "For Queen and Country". Navy News (July 2012): 8. One hundred or so miles west of the largest city of Abidjan lies the fishing port of Sassandra, too small to accommodate 8,500-tonnes of Type 45.
7. "HMS Duncan joins US Carrier on strike operations against ISIL". Navy News. Royal Navy. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015. As well as supporting the international effort against the ISIL fundamentalists – the 8,500-tonne warship has also joined the wider security mission in the region.
8. "HMS Daring". Wärtsilä. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
9. "HMS Daring - Type 45 facts by Royal Navy.pdf". Retrieved 22 July 2016.
10. Royal Navy (11 July 2013). A Global Force 2012/13 (PDF). Newsdesk Media. ISBN 978-1-906940-75-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2018. Complement as of 24 April 2013
11. "Raytheon Press Release" (PDF). 8 March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
12. "Jane's Electro-Optic Systems". 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
13. "Fleet to get the latest in electronic surveillance" (PDF). DESider. Ministry of Defence. September 2012. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2012.
14. "UK to buy Shaman CESM for Seaseeker SIGINT programme". IHS Janes Defense. 29 June 2014.
15. "Type 45 Ballistic Missile Defence upgrade to support more than 100 UK jobs". UK Government. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
16. "HMS Defender destroys drone in exercise which paves the way for future of air defence at sea". royalnavy.mod.uk. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
17. "Snapshot: The Royal Navy escort fleet in April 2024". Navy Lookout. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
18. "£500m firepower upgrade for Type 45 destroyers". GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
19. "Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers – reaching their full potential with addition of Sea Ceptor missiles". Navy Lookout. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
20. Scott, Richard (19 December 2023). "First NSM fit on RN Type 23 frigate". Janes. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
21. "Contenders for the Royal Navy's interim anti-ship missile requirement". navylookout.com. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
22. @NavyLookout (17 March 2023). "@HMSDuncan sails from Portsmouth this afternoon. Has been re-equipped with Harpoon missiles - the first Type 45 to carry SSM for several years" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 March 2023 – via Twitter.
23. "Can the UK supply anti-ship missiles to Ukraine?". 10 April 2022.
24. Scott, Richard (16 February 2022). "UK confirms cancellation of I-SSGW programme". Janes Information Services. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
25. "Snapshot: The Royal Navy escort fleet in April 2024". Navy Lookout. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
26. "Royal Navy to buy the Naval Strike Missile". Navy Lookout. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
27. "Royal Navy ships to be fitted with advanced new missile system". gov.uk. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
28. "The all-rounder – the 30mm Automated Small Calibre Gun in focus". Navy Lookout. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
29. "In focus: the 50 cal heavy machine gun in Royal Navy service". Navy Lookout. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
30. "Royal Navy's Sea Venom light anti-ship missile full operating capability delayed until 2026". Navy Lookout. 21 June 2023.
31. "Air Defence Destroyer (T45)". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
32. "Dragon shows a flare for action during weapons trials in the Channel". Royal Navy. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
33. "HMS Dragon launched". WalesOnline. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2008.
34. "Thousands line the Clyde to see HMS Dragon roar for first time". The Herald webpages. Retrieved 23 February 2009.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
35. "HMS Dragon off on sea trials in the Clyde". ForArgyll.com. 5 November 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
36. "Navy News - Reporting from the Fleet". Archived from the original on 18 March 2017.
37. "HMS Dragon Joins the Fleet". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
38. "Nimitz and company help Dragon prepare for new RN Carriers - Royal Navy".
39. "Protecting the defenders on the high seas".
40. "Navy News - Reporting from the Fleet". Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
41. "Navy News - Reporting from the Fleet". Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
42. "RAF fighter jets scrambled to investigate Russian planes". BBC News. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
43. "HMS Dragon leaves Portsmouth on deployment - Royal Navy".
44. Lusher, Adam (20 October 2016). "British warships tracking Russian fleet heading for the Channel". The Independent. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
45. "Fourteen rescued by Royal Navy warship after racing yacht becomes stranded in Atlantic Ocean". Independent Television News. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
46. "Sailing yacht Clyde Challenger abandoned at storm in Atlantic Ocean". Maritime Herald. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
47. "HMS Dragon: Three tonnes of hashish seized in the Gulf". The BBC. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
48. "HMS Dragon breaks record with seventh drugs bust | Royal Navy".
49. "HMS Dragon Seizes £56m of Heroin". 15 March 2019.
50. "Snapshot: The Royal Navy escort fleet in April 2024". Navy Lookout. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
51. Flynn, Jessica (18 May 2016). "Welsh dragon returns to the bows of Cardiff warship". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
52. "Navy destroyer linked to Cardiff". BBC News. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
53. "Yes Minster… York takes on HMS Dragon as her affiliate". Navy News. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
54. https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2024/may/01/20240501-dragon-and-wrexham-affiliation ^{[bare URL]}
55. "Worshipful Company of Plaisterers visit". Royal Navy website. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
56. "LEM Draig: The Newsletter for HMS Dragon" (PDF). Royal Navy. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
57. "Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon features in new James Bond No Time To Die trailer". Hampshire Live. Retrieved 1 October 2021.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
58. "ASTER 15 & 30 | Maritime Superiority, ASTER SOLUTION".
59. "See The Spectacular Set Of No Time To Die". 24 September 2021.

External links

• Official website