High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The United Kingdom`s Type 45 destroyer (also known as the D or Daring class) is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships. The first three ships were assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built at different ship yards.