HMS Diamond was a Daring-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on 14 June 1950. This ship was John Brown & Company's first all-welded ship (as opposed to the rivetted construction more commonly used up to that time).[1]

HMS Diamond, July 1952
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Diamond
Ordered	24 January 1945
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number	632 [1]
Laid down	15 March 1949
Launched	14 June 1950 [2]
Commissioned	21 February 1952
Identification	Pennant number: D35
Motto	Honor clarissima gemma (Latin: "Honour is the brightest jewel")
Fate	Scrapped at Rainham, Kent, 12 November 1981 [1]
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Daring-class destroyer
Displacement	Standard: 2,830 tons, full load: 3,820 tons [1]
Length	391 ft (119 m)
Beam	43 ft (13 m)
Draught	22.6 ft (6.9 m)
Propulsion	54,000 shp (40 MW) 2 × Foster Wheeler boilers (650 psi, 850 °F) 2 × Parsons steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h)
Range	4,400 nautical miles (8,100 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	Approximately 300
Sensors and processing systems	Radar Type 293Q target indication Radar Type 291 air warning Radar Type 274 navigation Radar Type 275 fire control on director Mk.VI Radar Type 262 fire control on director CRBF and STAAG Mk.II
Armament	6 × QF 4.5 in /45 (114 mm) Mark V in 3 twin mountings UD Mark VI 4 × 40 mm /60 Bofors A/A in 2 twin mounts STAAG Mk.II 2 × 40 mm /60 Bofors A/A in 1 twin mount Mk.V 2 × pentad tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes Mk.IX 1 × Squid anti submarine mortar

Service history

In 1953 Diamond took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[3] On 29 September 1953, she sustained severe bow damage in a collision with the cruiser Swiftsure during Exercise Mariner, held off the coast of Iceland.[4][5]

In 1956 Diamond was sent into Port Said to show the flag prior to the Franco-British assault, but the Egyptian government was unmoved and she sailed out to join the main attack force for the Suez landings at Port Said. She underwent a refit in 1959 at Chatham Dockyard. In 1964 she was involved in another collision, this time with the frigate Salisbury, in the English Channel during a naval demonstration.[6]

In 1970, she became one of two Harbour Training Ships moored alongside Priddy's Hard jetty in Gosport and attached to the Marine Engineering School at nearby HMS Sultan and remained in this role until replaced by HMS Londonderry. For most of this time, her steam plant remained maintained and useable for watchkeeping familiarisation purposes. HMS Diamond was scrapped in Rainham in Kent in 1981.[1]

References

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• McCart, Neil (2008). Daring Class Destroyers. Fan Publications. ISBN 978-1-904459-33-0.

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