Resolution class submarine
Encyclopedia
The Resolution-class submarine armed with the Polaris missile
UGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
was the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's primary nuclear deterrent from the late 1960s to 1994, when they were replaced by the Vanguard-class submarine
Vanguard class submarine
The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
carrying the Trident II.
Background
During the 1950s and early 1960s, the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's nuclear deterrent was through the RAF's V-bombers. But developments in radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and surface-to-air missiles made it clear that bombers were becoming vulnerable, and would be unlikely to penetrate Soviet airspace by the early 1960s. Free-fall nuclear weapons would no longer be a credible deterrent.
To address this problem, in May 1960 Prime Minister Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
arranged a deal with President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
to equip the V-bombers with the US-designed AGM-48 Skybolt
AGM-48 Skybolt
The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt was an air-launched ballistic missile , equipped with a nuclear warhead, developed by the United States during the late 1950s. The UK joined the program in 1960, intending to use it on their V bomber force...
. The Skybolt was a 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) range ballistic missile that allowed the launching bombers to remain well away from Soviet defences and launch attacks that would be basically invulnerable. With this range, the V-bombers would have to fly only a few hundred miles from their bases before being in range of an attack on Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Under the agreement, the UK's contribution to the program was limited to developing suitable mounting points on the Avro Vulcan
Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A V Roe & Co designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced,...
bomber, installing the required guidance systems that fed the missiles updated positioning information, and development of their own version of the US W47
W47
The W47 was an American thermonuclear warhead used on the Polaris A-1 sub-launched ballistic missile system. Various models were in service from 1960 through the end of 1974...
warhead to arm it, the RE.179 http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/alpha.htm.
The Skybolt crisis
The incoming Kennedy administration expressed serious doubts with both Skybolt and the US deterrent force in general. Robert McNamaraRobert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
was highly critical of the US bomber fleet, which he saw as obsolete in an age of ICBMs. Skybolt was seen simply as a way to continue the existence of a system he no longer considered credible, and given the rapidly improving capabilities of inertial guidance systems, their precision strike capability with free-fall bombs would no longer be needed. McNamara was equally concerned about the UK retaining an independent nuclear force, and worried that the US could be drawn into a war by the UK, or using the UK as a proxy hostage by the Soviets. He wanted to draw the UK into a dual-key arrangement.
McNamara first broached the idea of cancelling Skybolt with the British in November 1962. When this was reported in the House of Commons, a firestorm of protest broke out. A meeting
Nassau agreement
The Nassau Agreement, concluded on 22 December 1962, was a treaty negotiated between President John F. Kennedy for the United States and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan for the United Kingdom...
was arranged to settle the issue, and Macmillan stated in no uncertain terms that the UK would be retaining their independent deterrent capability, no matter what the cost. With development of their Polaris-derived warheads well along, a suitable launch platform would be developed, if need be.
Faced with a clear failure in policy terms, Kennedy gave up on the idea of strong-arming Britain into accepting a dual-key arrangement. By the end of the series of meetings, the UK had gained the much more impressive Polaris system
Polaris Sales Agreement
The Polaris Sales Agreement was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom which formally arranged for the Polaris missile system to be provided to the UK to maintain its independent nuclear deterrent. The arrangement had been set up in principle as a result of the Nassau Agreement...
, and would start development of a new submarine to launch them. The SSBNs would then take over the nuclear deterrent role from the RAF's V-bombers from 1968 onwards.
Construction
Two pairs of the boats were ordered in May 1963 from Vickers Shipbuilding Ltd, Barrow in Furness and from Cammell Laird and Co. Ltd, BirkenheadBirkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
. The option of buying a fifth unit, planned as Ramillies
HMS Ramillies
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ramillies after the Battle of Ramillies :*HMS Ramilles was 82-gun second-rate launched in 1664 as HMS Royal Katherine. She was renamed HMS Ramillies in 1706, and was wrecked in 1760. was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1763. She was damaged in a...
, was cancelled in February 1965. Traditional battleship names were used, signifying that they were the capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s of the time.
Vickers Armstrong
Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd
In 1994 VSEL was subject to two takeover proposals, one from GEC and another from British Aerospace . VSEL was willing to participate in a merger with a larger company to reduce its exposure to cycles in warship production, particularly following the "Options for Change" defence review after the...
in Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
constructed Resolution and Repulse and Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
in Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
constructed Renown and Revenge. The construction was unusual in that the bow and stern were constructed separately before being assembled together with the American-designed missile compartment.
The design was a modification of the Valiant-class fleet submarine
Valiant class submarine
The Valiant class were a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy from the mid 1960s until 1994. They were the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine; the earlier used an American nuclear reactor...
, but greatly extended to incorporate the missile compartment between the fin and the nuclear reactor. The length was 130 metres, breadth 10.1 metres, height 9 metres and the displacement 8400 long tons (8,534.8 t) submerged and 7600 long tons (7,722 t) surfaced. A Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
pressurised water reactor and English Electric Company turbines gave them a speed of 25 knots (49 km/h) and they could dive to depths of 275 metres (902.2 ft). Sixteen Polaris A3 missiles were carried, in two rows of eight. For emergencies there was a diesel generator and six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes located at the bow, firing the Tigerfish wire-guided homing torpedoes. The submarines put to sea with a crew of 143.
According to former head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors
Royal Corps of Naval Constructors
The Royal Corps of Naval Constructors is an institution of the Royal Navy and British Admiralty for training in naval architecture. It was established by Order in Council in August 1883, on the recommendation of the naval architect Sir William White. It still exists, as a branch of the Naval...
R.J. Daniel, the Resolution class SSBNs possessed five features that were envied by the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
: the machinery loading hatch, automated hovering system, welded hull valves, standardised valves, and raft-mounted propulsion machinery.
Construction programme
| Pennant Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers... |
Name | (a) Hull builder (b) Main machinery manufacturers |
Ordered | Laid down | Launched | Accepted into service |
Commissioned | Decommissioned | Estimated building cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S22 | Resolution | (a) Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, Barrow-in-Furness (b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness (b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines) (b) Rolls Royce and Associates Ltd. |
May 1963 | 26 February 1964 | 15 September 1966 | October 1967 | 2 October 1967 | 22 October 1994 | £40,240,000 |
| S23 | Repulse HMS Repulse (S23) HMS Repulse was a Resolution-class ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.Launched on 4 November 1967, she was the last of her class remaining in service with the navy, decommissioning in 1996.... |
(a) Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, Barrow-in-Furness (b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness (b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines). |
May 1963 | 12 March 1965 | 4 November 1967 | October 1968 | 28 September 1968 | 1996 | £37,500,000 |
| S26 | Renown HMS Renown (S26) HMS Renown was the third of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.Built by Cammell Laird and launched on 25 February 1967, she was decommissioned in 1996.- External links :*... |
(a) Cammell Laird & Co (Shipbuilders and Engineers) Ltd, Birkenhead (b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness (b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines). |
May 1963 | 25 June 1964 | 25 February 1967 | December 1968 | 15 November 1968 | 1996 | £39,950,000 |
| S27 | Revenge HMS Revenge (S27) HMS Revenge was the fourth of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.Built by Cammell Laird and launched on 15 March 1968, she was marked for disposal in 1992... |
(a) Cammell Laird & Co (Shipbuilders and Engineers) Ltd, Birkenhead (b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness (b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines). |
May 1963 | 19 May 1965 | 15 March 1968 | December 1969 | 4 December 1969 | May 1992 | £38,600,000 |
| Ramillies | Cancelled 1965. | ||||||||
Operational service
The first to be completed was HMS Resolution, laid down in February 1964 and launched in September 1966. After commissioning in 1967 she underwent a long period of sea trials culminating in the test firing of a Polaris missile. Fired from the USAF Eastern Test Range off Cape Kennedy at 11:15 on 15 February 1968. Resolution commenced her first operational patrol on 15 June 1968, beginning 28 years of Polaris patrols. The class were part of the 10th Submarine Squadron, all based at Faslane Naval BaseHMNB Clyde
Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
All four of the class underwent conversion during the 1980s so that they could be fitted with the Polaris AT-K missile which was fitted with the British developed Chevaline
Chevaline
Chevaline was a system to improve the penetrability of the British Polaris missile warheads. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet defences around Moscow, the system was intended to increase the probability that at least one warhead would penetrate the city's anti-ballistic missile defences,...
MRV system.
As the newer Vanguard-class submarines entered service, the Resolution class was eventually retired and all boats laid up at Rosyth dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
with their reactors removed.
Refits
New methods of project management were used in the refits of the Resolution class, including:- "The appointment of a senior officer of two star rank and with the title of Assistant Controller (Polaris), working under the joint superintendence of the Controller of the Navy and Chief of Fleet Support, whose responsibilities will include the oversight of the preparations for refits of Polaris boats, and their completion;"
- "The delegation to a designated officer (Director, Project Technical Submarines) of the responsibility for drawing up the "work package" for each refit, which will include full design information and documentation;"
- "The use of a fully integrated refit management team at Rosyth, and"
- "The full use of available management techniques and aids, including computers."
Fictional submarines
- The 1971 book The Fighting Temeraire by John WintonJohn WintonJohn Winton was the pen-name of Lieutenant-Commander John Pratt, who was an author and obituarist after his career in the Royal Navy. He was born in London and served in the Korean War and during the Suez Crisis. Whilst still in the Navy, he wrote the comic novel We Joined the Navy, featuring the...
features a fictional British Polaris submarine, HMS Temeraire which is used on a spying mission in the Black Sea. - The 1987 book Skydancer by Geoffrey Archer features a fictional British Polaris submarine, HMS Retribution.
- In the James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me (film)The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
, the fictional Polaris submarine HMS Ranger is hijacked by the film's main villain.
Cited texts
- The Encyclopedia Of Warships, From World War Two To The Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson.