Direct proof of use
The Type 45 / Daring class is documented in the 2023 Red Sea Crisis through HMS Diamond's Royal Navy deployment with Operation Prosperity Guardian. UK Ministry of Defence releases said HMS Diamond used the Sea Viper system in the Red Sea to shoot down multiple attack drones, and later used Sea Viper to destroy a Houthi missile targeting a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
Royal Navy reporting gives the clearest incident-level account. On January 30, 2024, the Royal Navy said the Type 45 destroyer had conducted its third engagement since arriving in the region, with sensors tracking a drone moving from land toward the ocean in the Gulf of Aden before Sea Viper struck the target. UK parliamentary testimony separately stated that HMS Diamond shot down an uncrewed aerial vehicle targeting merchant shipping over the Red Sea on December 16, 2023.
Sources: Sea Viper Red Sea Upgrade Announcement, HMS Diamond January 2024 Drone Engagement, GOV.UK Houthi Missile Shootdown, Hansard Red Sea Drone Attack
Timeline
HMS Diamond's first public Red Sea Crisis engagement came on December 16, 2023, when the ship shot down a UAV targeting merchant shipping. By January 9, 2024, Royal Navy later reported that Diamond had shot down seven drones in one night, the highest number of aerial threats neutralized by a Royal Navy warship in modern times in a single day.
The destroyer reached nine drone kills by late January after a third engagement in the Gulf of Aden. After a resupply and handover period, HMS Diamond returned to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden area in March 2024, and on April 24, 2024 shot down a Houthi missile that UK officials said was targeting a merchant vessel.
Sources: Hansard Red Sea Drone Attack, HMS Diamond January 2024 Drone Engagement, HMS Diamond Returns From Red Sea Mission, HMS Diamond Heads Back to Red Sea, GOV.UK Houthi Missile Shootdown
Narrative
In the crisis, HMS Diamond functioned as a shipborne air-defense and force-protection platform for merchant shipping and allied naval forces. The documented use was defensive: the Type 45's sensors, operations room, Sea Viper missiles, and guns were used against Houthi drones and a missile approaching shipping routes in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Official UK accounts describe the operating pattern as escort and protection rather than land attack. HMS Diamond joined Operation Prosperity Guardian in December 2023, remained in a high-threat area of the Red Sea, handed over temporarily to HMS Richmond in February, and returned to the theater in March. Royal Navy's July 2024 return report summarized the deployment as six months safeguarding international shipping lanes against attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Later Royal Navy and USNI reporting connected the same deployment to a U.S. Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. Those accounts stated that HMS Diamond came under sustained missile and drone attacks between December 2023 and June 2024, destroyed nine Houthi drones and a ballistic missile, and conducted opposed transits while escorting high-value merchant ships.
Sources: HMS Richmond Takes Over From Diamond, HMS Diamond Heads Back to Red Sea, HMS Diamond Returns From Red Sea Mission, Royal Navy Diamond US Navy Recognition, USNI Diamond Unit Commendation
