Allied Warships

HMS Daring (H 16)

Destroyer of the D class

HMS Daring before the Second World War

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	D
Pennant	H 16
Built by	Thornycroft (Southampton, U.K.)
Ordered	2 Feb 1931
Laid down	18 Jun 1931
Launched	7 Apr 1932
Commissioned	25 Nov 1932
Lost	18 Feb 1940
Loss position	58° 40'N, 1° 35'W

History	At 0354 hours (Berlin time), on 18 February 1940 HMS Daring (Cdr. Sydney Alan Cooper, RN) was torpedoed and sunk about 40 nautical miles east of the Pentland Firth in position 58°40'N, 01°35'W by the German submarine U-23. HMS Daring was escorting convoy HN 12 from Bergen to Methil. There were only 5 survivors, 156 men were lost. Hit by U-boat Sunk on 18 Feb 1940 by U-23 (Kretschmer).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Daring

Commands listed for HMS Daring (H 16)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. Sydney Alan Cooper, RN	29 Aug 1939	18 Feb 1940 (+)

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Notable events involving Daring include:

The page for this destroyer was last updated in July 2020. (1)

28 Aug 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. F.W.H. Clarke, RN) arrived at Hong Kong from Wei Hai Wei. She was almost immediately docked for bottom cleaning.

At midnight command of HMS Daring was transferred from Cdr. Clarke to Cdr. Cooper. (2)

29 Aug 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) is undocked. She departed for Hong Kong Singapore later the same day together with HMS Decoy (Cdr. E.G. McGregor, RN), HMS Defender (Lt.Cdr. St.J.R.J. Tyrwhitt, RN), HMS Delight (Cdr. M. Fogg-Elliott, RN) and HMS Duchess (Lt.Cdr. R.C.M. White, RN). (2)

1 Sep 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Singapore. (3)

2 Sep 1939
HMS Eagle (Capt. A.R.M. Bridge, RN), HMS Birmingham (Capt. E.J.P. Brind, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Singapore to patrol off the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra. (3)

3 Sep 1939
Due to engine problems HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) parted company with HMS Eagle (Capt. A.R.M. Bridge, RN) and HMS Birmingham (Capt. E.J.P. Brind, RN) and returned to Singapore where she arrived later the same day. (3)

14 Sep 1939
HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Singapore for Colombo. (3)

17 Sep 1939
HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Colombo from Singapore. (3)

19 Sep 1939
HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Colombo for Aden. (3)

25 Sep 1939
HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Aden from Colombo. (3)

26 Sep 1939
HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Aden for Alexandria. (3)

30 Sep 1939
HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Alexandria where they joined the Mediterranean Fleet. (3)

9 Oct 1939
The battleships HMS Warspite (Capt. V.A.C. Crutchley, VC, DSC, RN, flying the flag of A/Admiral A.B. Cunningham, KCB, DSO and 2 Bars, RN), HMS Barham (Capt. H.T.C. Walker, RN, flying the flag of Vice Admiral G. Layton, CB, DSO, RN), HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), the light cruiser HMS Penelope (Capt. G.D. Yates, RN) and the destroyers HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN), HMS Grafton (Cdr. M.S. Thomas, RN), HMS Gallant (Lt.Cdr. C.P.F. Brown, RN), HMS Gipsy (Lt.Cdr. N.J. Crossley, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) conducted exercises off Alexandria.

During the exercises HMS Malaya, HMS Glorious, HMS Daring and HMS Bulldog split off. They were to proceed to the Indian Ocean (Socotra area). They arrived at Port Said later the same day. (4)

10 Oct 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) transited the Suez Canal and set course for Aden. (5)

13 Oct 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) arrived at Aden from the Mediterranean. (5)

14 Oct 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) departed Aden to patrol off the Gulf of Aden (Socotra area). (5)

18 Oct 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) fuelled at sea from HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN).

After Daring completed fuelling, HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) fuelled from HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN). (6)

22 Oct 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) returned to Aden. (5)

23 Oct 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Aden to patrol off the Gulf of Aden (Socotra area). (5)

30 Oct 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) had a rendez-vous with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Plumleaf (5916 GRT, built 1917) off Socotra.

HMS Malaya and HMS Daring fuelled from Plumleaf. (5)

3 Nov 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) were joined at sea by HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN). (7)

4 Nov 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) fuelled at sea from HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN).

After Daring completed fuelling, HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) fuelled from HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN). (8)

8 Nov 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) arrived at Aden from patrol. (8)

10 Nov 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) again departed Aden for patrol off Sokotra. (8)

14 Nov 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) had a rendez-vous with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Plumleaf (5916 GRT, built 1917) off Socotra.

HMS Malaya, HMS Daring and HMS Bulldog fuelled from Plumleaf. (8)

18 Nov 1939
HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. J.S.M. Richardson, RN) anchored off Sokotra.

Here they were joined by HMS Ramillies (Capt. H.T. Baillie-Grohman, OBE, DSO, RN) and HMS Delight (Cdr. M. Fogg-Elliott, RN) coming from Aden.

HMS Daring then parted company and proceeded to Aden. (8)

19 Nov 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Aden. She departed for Suez later the same day. She was to proceed to Malta for a short refit. (1)

22 Nov 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Suez, transited the Suez Canal and then departed Port Said for Malta. (1)

25 Nov 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Malta where she was taken in hand for refit. (1)

27 Dec 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Malta for Gibraltar. She is to proceed to the U.K. to join the Home Fleet. First trials and exercises were to be carried out off Malta. (1)

28 Dec 1939
HMS Otway (Cdr. H.R. Conway, RN) conducted exercises off Malta together with HMS Beryl and later with HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN). (9)

30 Dec 1939
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Gibraltar. (1)

31 Dec 1939
HMS Dunnottar Castle (Capt.(Retd.) H.E.H. Spencer-Cooper, RN) departed Gibraltar for Belfast. She was escorted by the destroyer HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and the sloop HMS Scarborough (Cdr. J.H. Ruck-Keene, RN). (10)

2 Jan 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) attacked an A/S contact off Cape Roca, Portugal with depth charges. No German submarine was attacked on that day so the contact must have been bogus.

7 Jan 1940
HMS Dunnottar Castle (Capt.(Retd.) H.E.H. Spencer-Cooper, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Scarborough (Cdr. J.H. Ruck-Keene, RN) arrived at Belfast. (11)

8 Jan 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Belfast for Portsmouth. (1)

9 Jan 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Portsmouth from Belfast. (1)

11 Jan 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) was taken in hand for urgent repairs at Portsmouth. (1)

29 Jan 1940
With her repairs completed, HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN), departed Portsmouth for the Clyde. (1)

30 Jan 1940

Convoy TC 3.

This convoy of troopships departed Halifax on 30 January 1940 for the Clyde where it arrived on 7 February 1940.

The convoy was made up of the following troopships / liners; Aquitania (British, 44786 GRT, built 1914, carrying 2733 troops), Chobry (Polish, 11442 GRT, built 1939, number of troops unknown), Empress of Australia (British, 21833 GRT, built 1914, carrying 1577 troops), Empress of Britain (British, 42348 GRT, built 1931, carrying 1588 troops) and Monarch of Bermuda (British, 22424 GRT, built 1931, carrying 1334 troops),

Close escort was provided on leaving Halifax by the battleships HMS Malaya (Capt. I.B.B. Tower, DSC, RN), HMS Valiant (Capt. H.B. Rawlings, OBE, RN), light cruiser HMS Enterprise (Capt. H.J. Egerton, RN) and the destroyers HMS Hunter (Lt.Cdr. L. de Villiers, RN), HMCS Fraser (Cdr. W.N. Creery, RCN), HMCS Ottawa (Capt. G.C. Jones, RCN), HMCS Restigouche (Lt.Cdr. H.N. Lay, RCN) and HMCS St. Laurent (Lt.Cdr. H.G. de Wolf, RCN). These Canadian destroyers remained with the convoy until the afternoon of February 1st when they set course to return to Halifax. HMS Enterprise remained with the convoy until about 25°W when she parted company with the convoy in the afternoon 4 February to return to Halifax.

When the convoy approached the British isles, the destroyers HMS Faulknor (Capt. A.F. de Salis, RN), HMS Fame (Cdr. P.N. Walter, RN), HMS Fearless (Cdr. K.L. Harkness, RN), HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, DSC, RN), HMS Foresight (Lt.Cdr. G.T. Lambert, RN), HMS Fortune (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO, RN), HMS Foxhound (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Peters, RN), HMS Fury (Cdr. G.F. Burghard, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Diana (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN) departed the Clyde on 2 February. HMS Delight (Cdr. M. Fogg-Elliot, RN) departed Portsmouth on the 3rd also to join the convoy. They joined the convoy in the morning of the 5th with the exception of HMS Delight which had been detached as she was unable to join on time. She was replaced by the destroyers HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Machin, RN) and HMS Kingston (Lt.Cdr. P. Somerville, DSO, RN).

The convoy arrived in the Clyde on the 7th. (12)

31 Jan 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) arrived at Greenock from Portsmouth. (1)

2 Feb 1940
HMS Faulknor (Capt. A.F. de Salis, RN), HMS Fame (Cdr. P.N. Walter, RN), HMS Fearless (Cdr. K.L. Harkness, RN), HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, DSC, RN), HMS Foresight (Lt.Cdr. G.T. Lambert, RN), HMS Fortune (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO, RN), HMS Foxhound (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Peters, RN), HMS Fury (Cdr. G.F. Burghard, RN), HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) and HMS Diana (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN) departed the Clyde for convoy escort duty.

Later the same day the destroyers HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Machin, RN) and HMS Kingston (Lt.Cdr. P. Somerville, DSO, RN) also sailed.

[See the event ' Convoy TC 3 ' for 30 January 1940 for more information on this convoy.]

7 Feb 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) returned to the Clyde as part of the escort of convoy TC 3.

8 Feb 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed the Clyde to escort the tanker British Governor (6840 GRT, built 1926) and the former German merchant vessel Ilsenstein (8216 GRT, built 1904) to Scapa Flow.

[Ilsenstein was about to be scapped in Britain when war commenced, She was scuttled as blockship at Scapa Flow on 18 February 1940.]

10 Feb 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN), the tanker British Governor (6840 GRT, built 1926) and the former German merchant vessel Ilsenstein (8216 GRT, built 1904) arrived at Scapa Flow.

HMS Daring, with British Governor departed Scapa Flow later the same day for Rosyth. They were joined on the 10th by the destroyer HMS Diana (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN) and the tanker Housatonic (5559 GRT, built 1919) which came from Muckle Flugga. (1)

11 Feb 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN), HMS Diana (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN) and the tankers British Governor (6840 GRT, built 1926) and Housatonic (5559 GRT, built 1919) arrived at Rosyth. (1)

15 Feb 1940
HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) departed Rosyth for convoy escort duty. [See the event 'convoy HN 12 ' for 16 February 1940 for more information.]

She attacked an A/S contact north of Kinneard Head in position 58°10'N, 01°45'W. (most likely a bogus contact).

16 Feb 1940

Convoy HN 12

This convoy departed from Norway, near Bergen on 16 February 1940. The bulk of the convoy arrived at Methil on 19 February 1940.

The convoy was made up of the following merchant vessels; Activ (Norwegian , 507 GRT, built 1903), Amsterdam (Dutch, 7329 GRT, built 1922), Arnold Bratt (Swedish, 1430 GRT, built 1925), Bera (Swedish, 11286 GRT, built 1939), Columba (Norwegian, 1118 GRT, built 1929), Consul Bratt (Swedish, 1117 GRT, built 1913), Frode (Norwegian, 697 GRT, built 1917), Gottfrid (Finnish, 1592 GRT, built 1899), Hundvaag (Norwegian, 690 GRT, built 1908), Iberia (Swedish, 1399 GRT, built 1903), Kongshavn (Norwegian, 751 GRT, built 1906), Liv (Norwegian, 3068 GRT, built 1906), Maria Toft (Danish, 1911 GRT, built 1928), Meteor (Norwegian, 3717 GRT, built 1904), Mimer (Norwegian, 1143 GRT, built 1905), Rex (Swedish, 1013 GRT, built 1877), Rosten (Norwegian, 737 GRT, built 1920), Roy (Norwegian, 1768 GRT, built 1921), Sekstant (Norwegian, 1626 GRT, built 1919), Skarv (Norwegian, 852 GRT, built 1923), Stig Gorthon (Swedish, 2241 GRT, built 1924), Svanholm (British, 1321 GRT, built 1922), Vaga (Norwegian, 1612 GRT, built 1924), Viiu (Estonian, 1908 GRT, built 1917), Vim (Norwegian, 1114 GRT, built 1913) and Wipunen (Finnish, 4103 GRT, built 1913).

Escort was provided by the destroyers HMS Inglefield (Capt. P. Todd, RN), HMS Ilex (Lt.Cdr. P.L. Saumarez, DSC, RN), HMS Imogen (Cdr. C.L. Firth, MVO, RN) and HMS Delight (Cdr. M. Fogg-Elliott, RN). Anti-Aircraft protection was provided until the afternoon of the 17th by the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta (Capt. H.A. Packer, RN) which then proceeded to Sullom Voe. The submarine HMS Thistle (Cdr. R.W. Stirling-Hamilton, RN) was also part of the convoy escort.

The destroyer HMS Daring (Cdr. S.A. Cooper, RN) joined the convoy at sea on the 16th having departed Rosyth on the 15th.

Cover for the convoy was provided from the afternoon of February 17th until early on the 18th by the light cruisers HMS Edinburgh (Capt. C.M. Blackman, DSO, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral G.F.B. Edward-Collins, CB, KCVO, RN) and HMS Arethusa (Capt. Q.D. Graham, RN).

On the 18th the convoy was joined by three merchant ships from the Orkneys and by their escort, the destroyer HMS Imperial (Lt.Cdr. C.A.de W. Kitcat, RN).

Shortly before 0400 hours, on the 18th, HMS Daring was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-23 about 40 nautical miles east of the Pentland Firth in position 58°40'N, 01°35'W. HMS Thistle sights the sinking destroyer and directs the other destroyers to the rescue. HMS Inglefield (appartenly returned) picked up one officer and three ratings from a Carley float and HMS Ilex another rating from wreckage, they are the only survivors. 156 of the crew are lost. HMS Ilex also hunted the U-boat without success.

Following the sinking of HMS Daring the destroyers HMS Gallant (Lt.Cdr. C.P.F. Brown, RN), HMS Nubian (Cdr. R.W. Ravenhill, RN), HMS Sikh (Cdr. J.A. Giffard, RN) and HMS Jaguar (Lt.Cdr. J.F.W. Hine, RN) were sent out from Rosyth to join the convoy and escort the merchant vessels to Methil so that the original destroyer escort could hunt the submarine. [It remains unclear to us though if HMS Jaguar actually joined the convoy as she also departed Methil as escort for an east coast convoy on the 18th.] (13)