HAYNES author Prof Jonathan Gates will be talking at Dillington House in Somerset this Sunday as he reveals the secrets behind the Navy’s most advanced warship.

Type 45 Destroyers are part of the backbone of the Royal Navy, working around the world 365 days a year defending the fleet from air attack, pirates and drug runners and also providing vital humanitarian aid after natural disasters.

Professor Gates’ new manual, Type 45 Destroyer Manual, a fully-licensed Royal Navy product reveals unique insight into operating and maintaining of the most powerful air defence destroyer and largest general-purpose surface warship.

Their primary objective is to shield the fleet from air attack using the Sea Viper system whose missiles can destroy distant threats the size of a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound.

Jonathan Gates, who was on the design team for the Type 45, said: “Developing the most potent warships ever built for the Royal Navy was always expected to be a challenge because of the advanced technology and high degree of innovation that would be necessary.

“The requirement was for a versatile destroyer capable of contributing to worldwide maritime and joint operations in multi-threat environments, providing a specialist anti-air warfare capability.

“The six destroyers are now recognised as the most capable AAW vessels in the world and will form the mainstay of the RN’s fleet for the next three decades.

“It has been a wonderful opportunity to record how this development was accomplished, explain its advanced technology and describe the formidable and intricate warship that was produced”.