HMAS Duchess was a destroyer that served in the Royal Navy as HMS Duchess from 1952 to 1964, and in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1964 to 1980. She was laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company, and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1952.
Initially assigned to the Home Fleet, Duchess spent her early career on exercises and port visits. She was involved in celebrations for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II during 1953, and escorted the royal yacht in 1954. The destroyer was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in late 1954, and was involved in exercises, port visits, and anti-weapons-smuggling patrols of Cyprus. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, Duchess operated as plane guard and escort to the British carrier force, and was the last ship to leave Port Said after the British-French invasion failed. The destroyer was reassigned to the Home Fleet in early 1957, then was sent back to the Mediterranean as leader of the 5th Destroyer Squadron later that year. A modernisation refit ran from late 1958 to the start of 1961, after which, Duchess resumed operations with the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1963, tensions leading to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation resulted in Duchess being assigned to the Far East Fleet as part of a strengthening of British assets in South East Asia.
Following the 1964 Melbourne-Voyager collision, Duchess was loaned to the RAN as a temporary replacement for . The ship was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve throughout the 1960s, and operated as an escort for the Vietnam War troopship on several occasions. The original four-year loan was extended to 1972, at which point the ship was purchased outright by the Australian government. Duchess was converted into a training ship during 1973 and 1974, and spent the rest of her career operating on midshipman training cruises in Australian, New Zealand, and South Pacific waters. Duchess was replaced in the training role in 1977, and was decommissioned. The destroyer was sold for scrap in 1980.
Design and construction
The Daring class was an evolution of the Battle-class destroyer; larger and with a heavier armament built around three twin turrets.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, pp. ix–x Sixteen Darings were provisionally ordered on 20 July 1944, as part of the 1944 wartime construction programme.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 219 Duchess was the last of eight to have her order confirmed, on 29 March 1945, the other eight were later cancelled as unnecessary due to the end of World War II.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, pp. ix, 219 Their size and capability made the ships capable of performing duties previously restricted to light cruisers, and as the destroyer classification was initially considered inappropriate, they were referred to as "Daring-class warships" for the first part of their careers.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. x
As designed, the Daring-class ships had a standard displacement of 2,950 tons, with a full load displacement of 3,580 tons. Length was overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a maximum draught of . Propulsion machinery consisted of two oil-fuelled boilers (for Duchess, these were supplied by Foster Wheeler), connected to Parsons double reduction geared turbines from English Electric, which supplied to the ship's two propeller shafts. Top speed was , with an effective range of , while a cruising speed of allowed the ship to cover . Duchess, along with three of her sister ships, were fitted with alternating current internal electrics; a break from Royal Navy practice. The intended ship's company for Duchess was 278.
The main armament of a Daring-class destroyer consisted of six QF 4.5-inch Mk I – V naval guns, arranged in three twin turrets, two located forward, the third aft.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. ix For anti-aircraft warfare, the ships were fitted with four to six 40 mm Bofors guns: a reduction from the wartime-intended eight.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, pp. 219–20 Both main and anti-aircraft guns were radar-controlled. Two 5-tube launchers for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes were installed, along with a Squid anti-submarine mortar.
Duchess was laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company of Woolston at Southampton on 8 July 1948.Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 34 Construction of the Daring class was a transition away from riveting as a method of hull fabrication: some ships had a mix of riveting and welding, while Duchesss hull was all-welded.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 220 She was launched on 9 April 1951 by the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 23 October 1952.Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 35
Operational history Royal Navy 1953–1956 Duchess was initially assigned to the British Home Fleet in January 1953.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 52 During January, the ship was involved in training exercises with other Home Fleet units. On 26 January, while alongside in Portland Harbour, a furnace explosion and oil fire in A boiler room killed a stoker and severely burned three others. Although able to sail that afternoon, it took a further ten days of dockyard work to repair the damage. During February and March, Duchess and other ships of the Home Fleet sailed to Gibraltar for exercises. Most of April was taken up with self-maintenance, and May was spent on further training. At the end of May, Duchess, , and sailed to London, where they participated in the opening celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. After a brief visit to the Isle of Wight, Duchess sailed to Spithead for the Coronation Fleet Review, which occurred on 15 June. After the review, Duchess, Swiftsure, and visited east coast ports before sailing to Invergordon for fleet exercises.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 53 During the exercises, Duchess was plane guard for the carrier . Duchess returned to Portsmouth in July, underwent six weeks of maintenance, then sailed on 1 September to rejoin Eagle and other ships for exercises in the Denmark Strait. The exercise ended on 3 October, and after transporting personnel of 812 Naval Air Squadron to Loch Goyle, Duchess joined Eagle while the latter undertook flying training. On 6 October, a helicopter crashed while attempting to deliver mail to the destroyer: Duchess seaboat was able to rescue one of the two flight crew, while the other sank with the helicopter. Duchess continued to accompany Eagle until 24 October, when she detached to return to Portsmouth. The rest of 1953, along with most of January 1954, was spent in refit.
On 5 February, Duchess joined units of the Home Fleet on the Spring Training Cruise. The cruise included multi-national exercises in the Mediterranean, a port visit to Oran, and a joint Home-Mediterranean Fleets exercise. Duchess returned to Portsmouth on 23 March. On 29 April, the destroyer departed for Gibraltar to meet the royal yacht Britannia, which was carrying Queen Elizabeth II on the final legs of her Commonwealth Tour. Duchess was part of the escort force until Britannia reached the Thames Estuary on 13 May.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 54 The destroyer then proceeded to Invergordon for Home Fleet exercises. On 19 June, Duchess and sister ship were detached for a three-week flag-showing cruise around the Baltic Sea. Port visits were made to Oslo, Copenhagen, and Stockholm before Duchess returned to Portsmouth. On 31 August, the ship was paid off and recommissioned. She was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, and sailed on 10 September for Malta. On 15 October, Duchess was part of a demonstration of naval power for the Emperor of Ethiopia. The rest of the year was spent on exercises, including NATO exercise Novex 54, along with port visits to Elba with the cruiser in November.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 55 In early January 1955, Jamaica and Duchess made a formal visit to Algiers, which was then followed by more exercises. On 24 March, while moored at Naples, Duchess was rammed by the United States merchant ship SS Excambion. Damage to the destroyer included punctured hull plating on the starboard bow, impact damage to the starboard stern plates where the collision forced them into the wharf, and damage to the superstructure. Temporary repairs were effected, and the destroyer was able to sail to the Malta Dockyard on 30 March. Repairs took most of April, and it was not until 22 May that the ship was deployed again, on a cruise to the eastern Mediterranean.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 56 Duchess visited Istanbul, Alexandria, and Cyprus before returning to Malta's Grand Harbour on 22 June. Two days later, with her Mediterranean deployment at an end, Duchess departed for Portsmouth via Gibraltar. On her 1 July arrival, the destroyer was docked for maintenance.
Resuming operations on 28 September, Duchess sailed to Scottish waters for exercises: first anti-submarine and torpedo firing training off Clyde, then plane guard duties near Rosyth while Eagles aircraft practiced high-altitude intercepts. After a visit to Hamburg, the destroyer returned to Portland. Exercises and port visits continued into 1956, and on 21 February, Duchess paid off and recommissioned at Portsmouth Dockyard. On 3 March, the destroyer sailed to rejoin the Mediterranean Fleet.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 57 After a series of working up exercises, Duchess participated in the 60-ship Exercise Medflex Dragon in April. During the exercise, the naval correspondent for The Daily Telegraph was convinced by the officers to place a small article in the paper jokingly asking for "any spare coronets" to decorate the wardroom with. In response, Anne, Duchess of Westminster, arranged to have her coronet supplied to the destroyer. Medflex Dragon concluded on 20 April, and Duchess underwent six weeks of maintenance. Port visits to Istanbul and Golcuck followed, along with a stint patrolling the Cyprus coastline to intercept Greek weapons smugglers.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 58 She returned to Malta in mid-July, and was in Grand Harbour when the Suez Canal was claimed and nationalised by Egypt.
Suez Crisis
The Mediterranean Fleet began gearing up to retaliate, with Duchess undertaking shore bombardment and convoy escort training during August and September, and also serving as plane guard to Eagle as the carrier worked up. On 29 October, Duchess left Malta to join the escort of the carriers Eagle, , and . The carrier force arrived off the Egyptian coast on 31 October, and on 1 November, airstrikes commenced. During this, Duchess was plane guard for Eagle. On 6 November, the joint British-French invasion commenced, with the destroyer escorting one of the landing craft groups into shore, then standing by off Port Said for anti-air and anti-submarine defence. During 7 and 8 November, Duchess performed patrols off Port Said and was rotated through the plane guard stations of all three carriers. On 9 November, Duchess departed for Malta. She returned to Port Said on 17 November, and was again attached to the carrier force as an escort and plane guard. From 27 November to 16 December, the destroyer was sent to Cyprus for more anti-smuggler patrols, but the ship was recalled to cover the final withdrawal of British forces from Port Said. She remained in or near Port Said Harbour until 22 December: although due to sail that morning with the last troop convoy, Duchess remained on station until 20:00 in the unsuccessful hope that a junior officer of the West Yorkshire Regiment kidnapped early in the crisis would be returned. Consequently, Duchess was the last Royal Navy vessel to leave Port Said at the end of the Suez Crisis.McCart, Daring Class Destroyers, p. 59
1957–1964