HMS Duncan (D37)

HMS Duncan is the sixth and last of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the Royal Navy and launched in 2010. Duncan is named after Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan (1 July 1731 – 4 August 1804), who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797. The destroyer has served in the Mediterranean, Black, and Caribbean Seas, and in 2019 was deployed to the Persian Gulf in response to increased tensions with Iran in the region. In May 2024, she deployed to the Red Sea to protect international shipping from the ongoing Houthi attacks.

Characteristics
In 2014, the Royal Navy website stated that Duncan would be the first Type 45 destroyer to be armed with the Harpoon antiship missile system. On 2 March 2015, Duncan left Portsmouth armed with Harpoon antiship missiles.

Construction
Duncan's construction began at the BAE Systems Naval Ships (now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships) yards at Govan and Scotstoun on the River Clyde in 2006. She was launched from Govan on 11 October 2010, on the 213th anniversary of the Battle of Camperdown.

Duncan sailed from Scotstoun shipyard, Glasgow, on 31 August 2012 to commence sea trials.

Operational service
Duncan, the sixth and last Type 45 destroyer, was commissioned on 26 September 2013. She entered service on 30 December 2013, four months ahead of schedule, after a period of trials and training.

On 2 March 2015, Duncan left HMNB Portsmouth on her maiden deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East. On 7 July 2015, Duncan joined up with the U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group Twelve to strike the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

In April 2016, HMS Duncan was one of several Royal Navy ships exercising with the French Navy in Exercise Griffin Strike. In October 2016, Duncan, accompanied by the frigate HMS Richmond (F239), was dispatched by the Ministry of Defence to intercept and "man-mark" a fleet of Russian Navy vessels, including their flagship RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER Admiral Kuznetsov, which was passing through the English Channel on its way to Syria. In November, while sailing off the coast of England, Duncan suffered a total propulsion failure and was towed back to Plymouth.

Duncan sailed from Portsmouth in June 2017 to assume the role of flagship of NATO's Standing Maritime Naval Group 2 (SNMG2), operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Duncan was due to be relieved in September 2017 by HMS Ocean (L12) on her final deployment, but Ocean was redeployed to the Caribbean Sea to provide relief to British Overseas Territories in the region in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Duncan was instead relieved by HMS Diamond (D34), which was berthed in Gibraltar en route to the Persian Gulf to relieve HMS Monmouth (F235). Duncan returned to Portsmouth on 22 September 2017.

She resumed NATO duties in January 2018, visiting Mediterranean and Black Sea ports such as Constanța, Souda Bay, and Split, and again took command of SNMG2, returning to Portsmouth on 13 July 2018. In November and December 2018, Duncan featured in the first series of the Channel 5 television documentary Warship: Life at Sea, which captured everyday life on board the vessel during her NATO deployment earlier that year, including confrontations with Russian warships and aircraft, including the Admiral Essen. On the programme, the ship's crew frequently claimed that Duncan can detect a "tennis ball-sized object moving at three times the speed of sound, from over 100 miles away."

In December 2018, Duncan was announced to be affiliated with the town of Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast.

In July 2019, Duncan visited Odesa harbour in Ukraine. On 12 July 2019, she was ordered to the Persian Gulf in response to threats against British shipping by Iran. On arrival, she joined with the frigate HMS Montrose (F236) in protecting cargo vessels and oil tankers. This deployment featured in the second series of the Warship: Life at Sea television documentary.

In September 2019, Duncan returned to her home base at Portsmouth for a refit. By July 2021, Duncan’s refit was complete and she was back at sea by May 2022.

In February 2023, Duncan joined Orion23, France's largest-ever military exercise, held in the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In March 2023, Duncan was reportedly equipped with Harpoon anti-ship missiles for the first time in several years.

In late June 2023, Duncan departed HMNB Portsmouth for a six-month deployment; the first since she underwent a major overhaul. She became the flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in July.

In August 2023, HMS Duncan was leading a minefield exercise in the Mediterranean.

In May 2024, HMS Duncan deployed to relieve her sister ship HMS Diamond in the role of protecting international shipping in the face of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Affiliations

 * City of Dundee
 * City of Belfast
 * Town of Scarborough
 * Scots Guards
 * No1 (Fighter) Squadron RAF
 * Worshipful Company of Cooks
 * Worshipful Company of Saddlers
 * Friends of Camperdown House
 * The Mary Rose Trust
 * Northern Ireland Children's Hospice
 * Lachlan Goudie (Scottish painter and son of Alexander Goudie)
 * City of Duncan, BC and the Royal Naval Association Vancouver Island Branch
 * Glenfarclas distillery
 * URNU Manchester & Salford
 * HMS Hibernia
 * TS Duncan Sea Cadet Unit (Dundee)
 * Northern Ireland District, Sea Cadet Corps