British submarine id

[greenman407]

Next up: Resolution class (BOOMER)

[greenman407]

When it was decided that the UK would join the US in nuclear detterence by submarine, plans were drawn up for the Resolution class. Eventually there would be four(4) of them. Resolution, Repulse, Renown, and Revenge.
Carrying sixteen(16) missiles they remained in operation until the Vanguard class started coming online in Oct. 1992.
The resolution class was basically a Valiant that was lengthened by 140 ft. for the silos. The first patrol commenced in 1968.
425 ft. long
33 ft. beam
15,000 shaft horse power
20 knots surfaced
28 knots submerged
six(6) 21" torpedo tubes

[greenman407]

[greenman407]

If you compare the bow planes of the resolution to those of the Valiant you will see that neither one of them had planes that retracted. The Valiants were shorter and therefore it was seen as an unnecessary expense to retract them. In the resolution they had to be made longer for the necessary control so they were made to fold upward leaving its base in place. Also evident is the Valiant lacks the turtleback of the Resolution and the Resolutions sail and deck are wider.

[greenman407]

Next up............Churchill

[greenman407]

There were three Churchill class boats made. They were essentially an improved Valiant class with no known(to me) external difference between the two classes. They were contemporary with the US Sturgeon class boats.
All three were built in 1970 and 1971. Decommisioning occured in 1992.
HMS Conquerer has the distinction of being the only Nuclear powered boat to ever fire a torpedo in anger at another vessel. During the Falklands war between Argentina and the UK the Conquerer attacked and sank the General Belgrano, a light cruiser that was the ex USS Phoenix, a Brooklyn class light cruiser CL-46. She was hit by two torpedos. Amongst great loss of life and a stinging critisim she returned to port flying the Jolly Rogers flag. She was nicknamed the "Conch".
The three boats built to this class were the Churchill, the Conquerer and the Courageous. Their dimmensions were as follows: 285 ft. 1" Long
33 ft. 1 3/4" beam
28 knots submerged
20,000 SHP
(6) 21" Torpedo tubes

Pictures to follow.

[greenman407]

[greenman407]

[greenman407]

[greenman407]

USS Phoenix AKA General Belgrano
General Belgrano sinking.

[Albion]

a stinging critisim

They invaded British territory, what did they expect.

[Kazzer]

They invaded British territory, what did they expect.

Exactly!

When I mentioned this about the anniversary of the sinking of the Belgrano when I was over on SP, I was chastised by the owner (who couldn't stand the strain of SP ownership and quit) that I was offensive to some members who may have been Argentinian.

Now we are here on my forum, and I can relate to that event as a British citizen in England. If Margaret Thatcher did one thing right (yes only one thing) it was to approve that the Conqueror submarine torpedoed The Belgrano! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we hear the news, we cheered. My dad (an ex-submariner WWII) was delighted.

The submarine returned to port and flew the Jolly Roger, and some of the bleeding heart wimps in England (yes every country has their share) said it was disgusting to fly the flag on the boat when 300 or so died on the Belgrano. Bring those wimps here, tie them to a tree, so I can beat them to death with a 2x4 please. They forget that THE BRITISH ARE COMING THE BRITISH ARE COMING meant to most in the world at that time - whimper and - run like hell!

And they forget that every British submarine is entitled to fly the Jolly Roger.

Don't mess with RN tradition because there are very few wars The British have lost.

[Albion]

Exactly!
.

Have you read Vulcan 607, if not , do it. In this age of GPS and stealth bombers, its easy to forget that not so long ago we were still in the dark ages of navigation. The effort required to dump one bombload on port Stanley airport was monstrous, but it warned them that we were coming and we will not take no for an answer

[greenman407]

Agreed! And what did those bleeding hearts say after the Argentinians fired the exocet at the British Ship with the resulting loss of life.

[greenman407]

The Swiftsure class boats were a direct development from the Valiant and Churchill boats. However the good news is that as far as identification is concerned they look different. A decision at the design stage to create more space internally led to a redesign of her hull, thus the differences. They have a parallel sided hull instead of the more streamlined hull of the Valiants and Churchill's.
An improvement to her weapon loading systems allow reloads in just 15 seconds. On November 18 1998 HMS Splendid became the first Royal Navy submarine to fire the Tomahawk. The Missiles have a 1000 lb. warhead that can be projected to within 10 ft. of there target. On 24th of March 1999, HMS Splendid became the first RN submarine to fire the Tomahawk in anger. This was against a tactical target during the war in Kosovo against a Serbian target.
The Swiftsure boats are gradually being replaced as the new Astute class comes online.
Dimension's are: 272 ft. long
31 ft. 3" beam
15,000 SHP
20 knots surfaced and 30 knots submerged
(6) 21" torpedo tubes
There are six boats in the Swiftsure stable. They are the Sceptre, Sovereign, Spartan, Splendid,
Superb, and Swiftsure. All the boats except for the Swiftsure herself were equipped with a shrouded pump jet propulsor. The reason why the lead boat was not equipped is not known.