HMS Diamond (D35)

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 in (533 mm) torpedoes Mk.IX 1 × Squid anti submarine mortar

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]

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 a dockside training ship in Portsmouth and remained in this role until replaced by the destroyer Kent. She was scrapped in Rainham in Kent in 1981.^[1]

Commanding officers

From	To	Captain
1953	1953	Captain C B Alers-Hankley DSC RN
1957	1957	Captain J A C Henley DSC RN
1960	1960	Captain H H Dannreuther RN
1963	1965	Captain J D Cartwright

References

1. "HMS Diamond". Clydebuilt Ships Database. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
2. "HMS Diamond". Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
3. Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
4. "British Warships In Collision". The Times (52741): Col C, p. 6. 1 October 1953.
5. "Letter from P. D. Haynes, Trafford Branch" (PDF). Vanguard (The Official Journal of the Royal Naval Association No 10 area). April 2009. p. 21. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
6. "Two Warships Collide". The Times (56048): Col D, p. 12. 26 June 1964.

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. OCLC 67375475.
• McCart, Neil (2008). Daring Class Destroyers. Fan Publications. ISBN 978-1-904459-33-0.