HMS Duncan was the only other ship available for the mission but it is also due for routine maintenance after taking part in an exercise in Wales last month, when it had problems with its 30mm gun.
It has also not undergone a major propulsion overhaul to improve its engines, which have previously proven unreliable in the hotter waters of the Mediterranean and the Gulf, causing ships to break down.
The other four Type 45 destroyers in the Royal Navy are also undergoing maintenance, including three undergoing long-term works and a fourth, HMS Dauntless, receiving maintenance to “return her to full operational capability” after returning from an eight-month deployment with the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier.
The various issues meant not a single destroyer in the Royal Navy was ready for immediate deployment when the Iran conflict broke out.
Carns told Sky News that HMS Dragon would be deployed to the region “as fast as possible” but that it had been “fitted out for a different task” when the order was received for it to deploy this week.
“We have now completely re-rolled it,” he said, “We are going through a variety of different bits of maintenance to make sure, as fast as possible, we can get that system up and running.
“We have had to change weapons systems on it, finish welding, get it up and running, and get it sailing as fast as possible.
“That asset is specifically designed to protect a carrier strike group and work within a CSG, which was planning to go elsewhere. So to deploy that point defence asset is not the only way that we can defend our regional allies in the Mediterranean.”
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.
