HMS Dragon (D35) is the fourth vessel of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defense destroyers built for the Royal Navy. Launched on 17 November 2008 at the Govan shipyard on the River Clyde, she was commissioned on 20 April 2012. Constructed by BAE Systems Naval Ships at Scotstoun, her development began in December 2005, with her bow section already in place by December 2007. The ship underwent her first contractor sea trials starting on 5 November 2010 and entered her home port of Portsmouth on 31 August 2011. HMS Dragon features the distinctive design typical of the Type 45 class, optimized for air-defense with advanced radar and missile systems, including the Aster surface-to-air missiles. She is uniquely adorned with a red Welsh Dragon on each side of her bow, a symbol of her Welsh heritage, which was restored in 2016 following a fundraising campaign. Throughout her service, HMS Dragon has been active in global maritime operations. In August 2013, she operated with the USS Nimitz carrier group in the Arabian Sea, serving as the main point ship for aircraft control. She has participated in exercises with RAF Typhoons and US fighters in the Persian Gulf, and has been involved in tracking Russian naval vessels, including the Vice-Admiral Kulakov in 2014 and two Russian corvettes in 2016. Her operational record includes multiple drug interdictions: by March 2019, she had seized over 18 tons of narcotics, including heroin and hashish, making her the Royal Navy's most successful vessel in Middle Eastern anti-drug operations. HMS Dragon has also conducted search and rescue missions, notably rescuing 14 crew members from the yacht Clyde Challenger in 2017. She has been active in maritime security, surveillance, and NATO exercises, including participating in NATO’s Formidable Shield in May 2025, the largest at-sea live-fire exercise in Europe. The ship also gained cultural recognition by appearing in the James Bond film “No Time to Die” in 2019. Her operational history underscores her significance as a versatile and formidable element of the Royal Navy’s maritime capabilities.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.