The HMS Daring (H16) was a D-class destroyer in service in the Royal Navy from the early 1930s to the mid-to-late 1940s.
Daring was ordered on February 2nd 1931 under the 1930 Naval Estimates, and was laid down at John I Thornycroft's yard at Woolston, Southampton on June 18th 1931. She was launched on April 7th 1932 and completed on November 25th 1932, at a total cost of £225,536, excluding equipment supplied by the Admiralty, such as weapons, ammunition and wireless equipment. The ship was initially assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean and made a brief deployment to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in September–October 1933. Lord Louis Mountbatten assumed command on April 29th 1934, and Daring was given a refit at Sheerness Dockyard from September 3rd - October 24th to prepare the ship for service on the China Station.
In December 1934 she sailed to join the 8th Destroyer Flotilla in the Far East and served there until the outbreak of war. Upon the ship's arrival at Singapore, Lord Mountbatten was transferred to command HMS Wishart and Commander Geoffrey Barnard assumed command.
By August 1939, Daring had been transferred back to Britain and assigned as an escort to the battlecruiser HMS Hood.[1]