The Daring was designed as a destroyer leader, but improvements in sensor technology in the Four Years War  rendered this type of ship obsolete. It was then proposed to be re-roled as an exploration cruiser (Derf class), but the decision to produce further ships of the Constitution and Anton classes meant that it could not fulfill that role either. Finally the USS Derf was borrowed for a demonstration of the buoy tender concept. This demonstration was so successful that serial production of the Derf was ordered immediately and eventually totaled 600 vessels over a period of 35 years. Few vessels in Starfleet history have achieved either that level or longevity of production and it is certain that had the class been adopted in either of the other two intended roles it would not have gotten anywhere near either figure.

Of the 26 Daring Class hulls laid down, only five commissioned (Daring, Diamond, Diomede, Derwent and Daedalus) in their intended role. USS Derf commissioned in the exploration cruiser configuration before being converted for trials as a tender in 2255. The other five were also subsequently converted to the tender configuration in 2256, and the other 20 were commissioned in that configuration