HMS DUNCAN (D37) is a British Type 45 / Daring-class guided-missile destroyer, the sixth and final vessel of the class constructed for the Royal Navy.
Built by BAE Systems on the River Clyde, DUNCAN was laid down in 2007, launched at Govan on 11 October 2010 and formally commissioned into the Royal Navy at Portsmouth on 26 September 2013.
Designed primarily for fleet air defence, the Type 45 combines the powerful SAMPSON multi-function radar, long-range S1850M surveillance radar and the Sea Viper missile system, making DUNCAN one of the Royal Navy's principal air-defence escorts.
More than thirteen years after commissioning, HMS DUNCAN remains operational in 2026, having continued to undertake major NATO and Carrier Strike Group deployments.
Vessel Details
Name: HMS DUNCAN
Pennant Number: D37
IMO: 4907880
MMSI: 235053411
Call Sign: GMIC
Deck Code: DU
Type: Guided-Missile / Air-Defence Destroyer
Class: Type 45 / Daring class
Operator: Royal Navy
Country: United Kingdom
Home Port: Portsmouth Naval Base
Namesake: Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown
Builder: BAE Systems Surface Ships
Built: Govan / Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland
Laid Down: 26 January 2007
Launched: 11 October 2010
Commissioned: 26 September 2013
Length Overall: 152.4 m
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: approx. 7.4 m
Displacement: approx. 8,000–8,500 t
Propulsion: Integrated Electric Propulsion
Gas Turbines: 2 × Rolls-Royce WR-21
Electric Motors: 2 × approx. 20 MW
Propellers: 2 shafts
Maximum Speed: in excess of 30 knots
Range: over 7,000 nautical miles at 18 knots
Core Complement: approx. 190–200
Accommodation: more than 230 personnel when required
Aircraft Facilities: Flight deck and enclosed hangar
Aircraft: Wildcat HMA2 or Merlin helicopter
Current Status: Active
The Royal Navy continues to identify DUNCAN as the sixth Type 45 destroyer, based at Portsmouth with a ship's company of more than 200 personnel.
The Seventh HMS DUNCAN
The present DUNCAN is the seventh Royal Navy vessel to carry the name.
She is named after Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown, whose most famous victory came against the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.
Previous Royal Navy vessels carrying the name included ships of the line, battleships, destroyers and a Type 14 frigate.
The modern DUNCAN continues a naval name extending back to the early nineteenth century.
The Type 45 Destroyer
The Type 45 class was developed principally to provide area air defence for Royal Navy task groups and allied formations.
Its most distinctive feature is the large spherical SAMPSON multi-function radar mounted high on the forward mast.
Working together with the S1850M long-range surveillance radar and the ship's combat-management system, SAMPSON allows a Type 45 to detect, track and engage multiple airborne threats simultaneously.
According to the Royal Navy, the radar can detect and track targets at distances exceeding 250 miles.
The principal air-defence weapon is the:
Sea Viper missile system
using a:
48-cell Sylver A50 Vertical Launch System
capable of carrying combinations of Aster 15 and Aster 30 surface-to-air missiles.
Sea Viper was designed to defend both the destroyer itself and other ships in a naval formation against aircraft and anti-ship missiles.
Armament
HMS DUNCAN's principal established weapons and defensive systems include:
48-cell Sylver A50 Vertical Launch System
for Sea Viper / Aster surface-to-air missiles
1 × 4.5-inch Mk 8 naval gun
2 × 30 mm guns
2 × Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems
Heavy machine guns
together with electronic-warfare, decoy and torpedo-defence systems.
During earlier stages of her career, including the period when she was recorded by PiraeuShips, DUNCAN also carried Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
The Royal Navy is progressively modernising the Type 45 class with improvements including Sea Viper Evolution, additional Sea Ceptor capability and changes to anti-ship armament.
Maiden Deployment
HMS DUNCAN departed Portsmouth on her first operational deployment in March 2015.
The deployment lasted approximately nine months and took her through the:
Mediterranean
Middle East
and
Persian Gulf
working with British and allied naval forces and protecting important maritime trade routes.
It established the newly commissioned destroyer as an operational member of the Royal Navy's surface fleet less than two years after entering service.
NATO Flagship
One of the defining periods of DUNCAN's early career came in 2017, when she became flagship of:
Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 – SNMG2
The group operates primarily in the Mediterranean and can also deploy into the Black Sea.
Commodore James Morley RN embarked with his multinational NATO staff, directing the formation from DUNCAN.
During the deployment, the destroyer operated with warships from numerous NATO countries and participated in maritime-security and multinational training operations.
She also visited several Black Sea ports, including Varna, Odessa and Constanța, and conducted exercises with allied naval and air forces.
The Royal Navy states that the 2017 deployment covered approximately 15,000 miles, involved visits to eight countries and lasted three months.
Piraeus – September 2017
During this NATO deployment, HMS DUNCAN developed a particularly strong connection with Piraeus.
The Hellenic Navy officially announced that the destroyer would make a scheduled call at the Port of Piraeus from:
1 September to 4 September 2017
At the time, HMS DUNCAN was serving as the command ship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2.
On 31 August 2017, immediately before the port call, SNMG2 commander Commodore James Morley met the Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis, and subsequently visited the Hellenic Fleet Headquarters.
The visit came during the final phase of DUNCAN's first period as NATO flagship.
PiraeuShips Record
PiraeuShips recorded HMS DUNCAN during her September 2017 visit to Piraeus.
The original PiraeuShips entry preserves the destroyer only four years after commissioning and during one of the most important early deployments of her career.
At the time she was not simply making a routine port visit: DUNCAN was carrying the multinational command staff of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 and operating as the group's flagship.
The original PiraeuShips record lists:
Pennant: D37
IMO: 4907880
MMSI: 235053411
Call Sign: GMIC
Length: 152.4 m
Beam: 21.2 m
Speed: over 30 knots
and documents the vessel under essentially the same external configuration in which she served during her early NATO deployments.
Return as NATO Flagship
DUNCAN returned to the Mediterranean in January 2018 to resume the role of SNMG2 flagship.
She subsequently operated across the Mediterranean and Black Sea during a six-month deployment.
During this period the destroyer provided NATO with an air picture during the April 2018 US, British and French strikes against Syrian chemical-weapons facilities.
DUNCAN also participated in maritime-security operations and rescued two Algerian fishermen who had been lost at sea.
The Royal Navy noted that DUNCAN ultimately served twice as the SNMG2 flagship during the United Kingdom's year-long command of the formation.
Protecting Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz
In 2019, DUNCAN was sent to one of the world's most strategically important shipping lanes.
The destroyer arrived in the Persian Gulf in July 2019 amid heightened tensions between Britain and Iran.
Together with frigate HMS MONTROSE, she was tasked with helping safeguard British-flagged merchant ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Her mission was particularly relevant to the role for which the Type 45 was designed: providing sophisticated surveillance and air defence while protecting other vessels in a high-threat environment.
Eastern Mediterranean in 2024
HMS DUNCAN returned to the Eastern Mediterranean during another major deployment in 2024.
She initially sailed from Portsmouth in May to reinforce British naval forces protecting maritime trade routes from attacks originating from Yemen.
During July, however, DUNCAN operated in the Eastern Mediterranean alongside United States Navy forces.
She worked with both the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Carrier Strike Group and the amphibious group centred around USS WASP, providing the American formation with Type 45 air-defence coverage.
Preparing for Modern Drone and Missile Threats
By February 2026, DUNCAN was undergoing intensive operational training designed around modern missile and drone warfare.
During Exercise SHARPSHOOTER off Wales, the destroyer faced simulated missile attacks and live unmanned surface and aerial targets.
Her crew used:
Phalanx
30 mm guns
4.5-inch main gun
and a Wildcat helicopter armed with Martlet missiles
while the ship's Sea Viper system was exercised against simulated cruise and ballistic missile threats.
The Royal Navy reported that DUNCAN successfully tracked and neutralised multiple aerial and surface targets during the exercise.
Operation FIRECREST – 2026
HMS DUNCAN subsequently deployed with the British Carrier Strike Group in May 2026.
The force was centred on aircraft carrier:
HMS PRINCE OF WALES
and initially included:
HMS DUNCAN
and fleet tanker:
RFA TIDESPRING
under Operation FIRECREST.
The group operated across the North Atlantic and Arctic, participating in NATO exercises and supporting NATO's Arctic Sentry and Icelandic air-policing missions.
During the deployment, DUNCAN operated in the Norwegian Sea and was passed by a Russian Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft, which was intercepted by F-35B fighters launched from HMS PRINCE OF WALES.
The first phase of Operation FIRECREST concluded in July 2026, with HMS DUNCAN returning to Portsmouth alongside the carrier before the planned second phase of the operation.
Still Active in 2026
HMS DUNCAN therefore remains an active operational Royal Navy destroyer in 2026.
From her commissioning in 2013 through NATO flagship duties in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, protection of merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, operations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the 2026 Arctic Carrier Strike Group deployment, the ship has developed an extensive operational record.
The Royal Navy continues to list DUNCAN as an active Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer.
PiraeuShips Record
HMS DUNCAN was recorded at Piraeus by PiraeuShips in September 2017 while serving as flagship of NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2. Built by BAE Systems on the Clyde, launched in 2010 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in September 2013, DUNCAN is the sixth and final Type 45 air-defence destroyer. Her Piraeus visit came during one of the defining early deployments of her career, when the destroyer led a multinational NATO formation operating across the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Since then she has undertaken further NATO deployments, protected commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, operated with United States Navy forces in the Eastern Mediterranean and deployed with HMS PRINCE OF WALES during Operation FIRECREST in 2026. Still active more than thirteen years after commissioning, HMS DUNCAN remains one of the Royal Navy's principal air-defence warships.
Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.