HMS Duncan to Dock in Glasgow, UK

The Royal Navy’s newest Type 45 destroyer, HMS Duncan, will visit Glasgow from July 30 to August 5.

Weighing in at 7,350 tonnes, she is returning to the city of her birth, docked a stone’s throw from the place she was launched. The ship is in Glasgow for community engagement including the commemoration service to mark the start of World War One.

HMS Duncan will go alongside close to the Riverside Museum and will open her decks to visitors on August 1, 2 and 3 from 10am to 4pm daily.

A Glasgow girl through and through, it is a great opportunity for members of the public to get a close-up view of this ultra-modern, 152-metre-long ship, as well as chat to members of her crew about their experience in the Royal Navy.

On Thursday 31 July, Directors from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development are invited on board for a hosted dinner.

On August 4, members of the ship’s company are taking part in the National First World War commemorations which are split between Glasgow Cathedral and George Square. The commemorations will be led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and form part of the United Kingdom Government’s programme of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

This is the principle commemorative event in the United Kingdom and will be attended by the Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister, the Scottish First Minister, Chief of the Defence staff and the Commonwealth Secretary-General.

A service of commemoration will be held in Glasgow Cathedral at 10am and this will be followed by a wreath laying in George Square commencing at 11:30am. A marching contingent of personnel drawn from a variety of units across the Naval Service will then take to the streets with musical support provided by the band of the Parachute Regiment. The parade will include a contingent of up to 400 Veterans from Veterans Scotland accompanied by 6 Scots Band.

Also on 4 August, HMS Duncan will host a Reception and Capability Demonstration on board during the evening for invited guests.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to bring HMS Duncan back to the River Clyde,” said HMS Duncan’s Commanding Officer, Commander James Stride. “As well as opening to the public, which will be rather special so close to where the ship was actually launched four years ago, we have a busy programme while in port.

“This will include a number of pre-arranged tours for mixed groups of Employability Support Officers, the Boys Brigade, Armed Forces Careers Officers from the Glasgow area who have been invited on board.

We are also looking forward to hosting a visit by Reserve Employers and members of the Lowland Regional Employer Engagement Group.

“Overwhelmingly, however, we are proud and humbled to have been invited to take part in Glasgow’s centenary commemoration of the start of World War One. It is simply an honour to play a small role in this poignant remembrance of the bloody conflict and all those who fought for our country, many of whom fell in so doing.”

HMS Duncan is the sixth and last of Britain’s six Type 45 destroyers which are the most advanced warships the nation has ever built. Their mission is to shield the Fleet from air attack using the state-of-the-art Sea Viper missile system.

The Type 45s can also be used as general-purpose warships; they have huge flight decks to accommodate helicopters up to the size of a Chinook. There’s enough space on board to host a Royal Marines detachment up to 60-men strong.

HMS Duncan was launched at BAE’s Govan yard on the Clyde in 2010 and was commissioned into the Fleet in September 2013.

The ship will leave Glasgow on Tuesday August 5 at approx 7.30pm.

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Press Release, July 29, 2014; Image: Royal Navy