Commander Graeme Hazelwood, a naval officer for almost two decades, assumed control of the Type 45 destroyer vessel in July and has been in the island to reaffirm his vessel’s commitment to the Bailiwick.
Daring last visited Guernsey in 2016, but has been undergoing significant work since then. The ship will finally set sail again next year, and while Cdr Hazelwood was not able to guarantee the vessel would be able to come to Guernsey in 2026, a visit to the island was high on the list of priorities.
‘Everybody’s really focused on making that happen,’ he said.
During his visit he met with both Lt-Governor Sir Richard Cripwell and Bailiff Sir Richard McMahon.
‘It’s really important to the ship and to the Navy in general that these affiliations are maintained, and it’s important to me on a personal level that one of the first things I could do was to come to Guernsey,’ Cdr Hazelwood said.
‘We are planning to come over again next month for Remembrance weekend, which is obviously a key weekend in the military calendar, and so it seemed fitting to come over a little bit before that and introduce myself.’
Cdr Hazelwood joined the Navy in 2006, and has been deployed to locations such as the Persian Gulf and the South Atlantic.
He has previously served on other Type 45 destroyers, including HMS Diamond and HMS Dragon, while he was a commander of minehunter HMS Grimsby for two and a half years.
He described being appointed as commander of HMS Daring as a ‘huge honour’.
‘A key message I want to say is that we’re your Navy, and this link with Guernsey is really important, so that islanders are able to see their Navy and what it does for them.’
Cdr Hazelwood said upgrades had been made to the ship’s power and propulsion, weapon systems, and on-board equipment over the last few years.
While he admitted the work had taken a little longer than expected, the imminent next stage would see trials and tests take place to ensure all upgrades were working as expected.
‘The big focus for me is that it comes out as an operational warship, ready to go and deliver for the country on operations,’ he said.
‘These are complex warships, they are high-performing vessels which need to be tweaked and optimised, and that can take a little bit more time than we would like.’
There are 160 service personnel currently operating HMS Daring, a number which Cdr Hazelwood described as ‘quite healthy’.
‘It’s growing every week, which is good. We have lots of really keen sailors.’
He said he had been impressed by how passionate his team had been about Guernsey, with a raft of volunteers wishing to be part of the island’s Remembrance commemorations next month.
‘There’s a real wave of enthusiasm and optimism, and wanting to get involved and deliver for the island and for the country.’
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