UK’s most advanced warship secretly deployed to Yemen coast – to break down again?

Last Updated: November 10, 2016By Tags: , , , ,
British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring. The boat next to it is probably on its way to tug it into the shipyard for more repairs [Image: Glyn Kirk/AFP].

British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring. The boat next to it is probably on its way to tug it into the shipyard for more repairs [Image: Glyn Kirk/AFP].

Gosh. Are we to take it, then, that the refit is over and the UK’s most advanced warship is no longer breaking down every five minutes?

This Writer was reporting on the disastrous condition of our hugely costly Type 45 cruisers as recently as January.

Back then, we were being told electrical failures on the £1 billion warships were common and would cost tens of millions of pounds to fix.

If HMS Daring has to go into combat, it will probably need to be towed away.

Britain’s most advanced warship has reportedly been quietly deployed to the coast of Yemen in what experts claim is a bid to protect the vital Bab al-Mandeb strait – a key oil route.

While the move has not yet been publicly confirmed, the Times newspaper reported Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring had been diverted to the area, which feeds into the Suez Canal.

Source: Oil wars? UK’s most advanced warship secretly deployed to Yemen coast — RT UK

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.


The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

No Comments

  1. Roland Laycock November 10, 2016 at 9:34 am - Reply

    Look like we follow the US in more ways

  2. Dez November 10, 2016 at 10:47 am - Reply

    What a total disaster. Not a very good time to find we have invested tax payers money in a crock of floating poo. Worse our service personnel are now no better than sitting ducks…..how does it work then? Does the warship captain have to tell the tug to fast track a turn to avoid torpedos? Bad procurement decisions have a lot to answer for hopefully it is not in lost lives.

  3. Barry Davies November 10, 2016 at 11:07 am - Reply

    Well other than ferries the majority of ships need help form tugs to berth, although the boat at the side could be a pilots boat as the ship is clearly moving. I’m not surprised at there being it problems if the government had anything to do with it, because they have previous, many times over of buying or creating dreadful it systems.

    • Mike Sivier November 10, 2016 at 11:30 am - Reply

      My understanding is that the problem caused both IT systems and engines to cut out at the moment of greatest need – in other words, just when the ship was likely to need both its engines and weaponry. It was said to be electrical but – as an IT system was involved, your comment may be accurate.
      As for the boat beside the cruiser in the photograph – I was not being altogether serious. Was that not clear?

  4. wildswimmerpete November 10, 2016 at 7:32 pm - Reply

    In such a vessel the electrical system should have redundancy so if a breakdown occurs the back-up system should take over. Before I retired my job was to troubleshoot complex electronic control systems, and found the encroachment of software-controlled devices was already becoming problematic. I still prefer systems using relay/contactor logic, you can see it working and all that’s needed is a multi-meter, screwdriver and sometimes an oscilloscope to trace the fault and then fix it. Today’s software-controlled systems require complex test equipment when the inevitable happens at just the wrong moment. An obsession with pretty flashing lights and all the whistles and bells rather than the old engineers’ maxim: KISS (keep it simple, stupid). Bear in mind our nuclear deterrent runs on a version of Windows XP!

  5. casalealex November 10, 2016 at 9:11 pm - Reply

    Why are we sending warships to Yemen? It is to save the Yemenis or to reinforce the Saudis?

  6. navylookout November 13, 2016 at 8:10 am - Reply

    A rather glib and ill-researched article. It is true that the Type 45 Destroyers have had serious propulsion issues but they have been temporarily cured with engineering par-fixes and some operating restrictions. The situation is not ideal but the ships rarely breakdown now. They will be completely cured by major refits starting in 2019.
    You can read the full story here:

    http://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/putting-the-type-45-propulsion-problems-in-perspective/

    The RN has full confidence in Daring and she would not be placed in danger if this was not the case. She is being used in the role she was designed for – to detect and intercept missiles and protect the merchant shipping, key to global trade. This does not signal an endorsement of Saudi actions in Yemen and is essentially a defensive deployment.

    • Mike Sivier November 14, 2016 at 11:06 am - Reply

      Thanks for the up-to-date information but you are telling us that these warships have been given a “quick fix” and are still not up to standard.

      This is intolerable – and all we get from the government is one excuse after another. What will it be in 2019?

Leave A Comment