History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Renown |
Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
Laid down | 25 June 1964 |
Launched | 25 February 1967 |
Commissioned | 15 November 1968 |
Decommissioned | 24 February 1996 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Resolution-class ballistic missile submarine |
Displacement | surfaced 7,500 tons; submerged 8,400 tons. |
Length | 425 ft (130 m) |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
Draught | 30 ft 1 in (9.17 m) |
Propulsion | 1 × Vickers/Rolls-Royce PWR.1 pressurised-water nuclear reactor, 27,500 shp (20,500 kW); Propeller. |
Speed | surface - 20 kn (37 km/h); submerged - 25 kn (46 km/h) |
Range | Unlimited except by food supplies |
Complement | 143 (two crews) |
HMS Renown (S26) 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.
Renown, like the other Resolution-class submarines, was ordered on 8 May 1963 and was laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 25 June 1964. [1] Construction was slower than planned, with poor performance by Cammell Laird and its workforce resulting in both Renown and sister ship Revenge being delayed. In 1966, it was discovered that due to lax interpretation of drawings, Renown's torpedo storage compartment differed in length by 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the lead ship Resolution, and in November that year, broken bits of metal were found in the submarine's primary cooling circuits, the removal of which delayed construction by two months. [2] Renown was launched on 25 February 1967 by Edna Healey, wife of Denis Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence. [1] [3] By October 1967, Revenge was six months behind programme, and the Ministry of Defence considered towing the unfinished Renown and Revenge to Barrow-in-Furness for completion by Vickers-Armstrongs. [4] She was formally commissioned on 15 November 1968. [5] [6]
Renown was 425 feet (129.5 m) long overall and 360 feet (109.7 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 30 feet (9.1 m). [5]
Renown struck the entrance to a dock when leaving Lairds for sea trials in February 1969, and collided with a merchant ship, MV Moyle in the Irish Sea on 13 October 1969, which resulted in Renown's commanding officer being found guilty of hazarding his submarine at the resulting court-martial and relieved of command. Renown finally became operational in November 1969. [7]
In 1974 Renown suffered structural damage when she struck the bottom of the sea during sea trials off Scotland. [7]
Following a refit Renown carried out test firings of Chevaline, which was a modification of the Polaris missiles to enable them to penetrate Soviet anti-ballistic missile defences, in early 1982, and was fully operational with Chevaline late that year. [8]
In the 1990s the ageing Resolution-class was becoming difficult for the Royal Navy to operate, suffering from an increased number of defects, and Renown was forced to remain alongside at Faslane due to defects in 1995 before being decommissioned on 24 February 1996. [9]
The Resolution class was a class of four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) built for the Royal Navy as part of the UK Polaris programme. Each submarine was armed with up to 16 UGM-27 Polaris A-3 nuclear missiles.
A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capability. They can fire missiles thousands of kilometers from their targets, and acoustic quieting makes them difficult to detect, thus making them a survivable deterrent in the event of a first strike and a key element of the mutual assured destruction policy of nuclear deterrence.
HMS Resolution (S22) was the first of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines. She operated from 1968 until 1994 providing the UK Polaris at sea nuclear deterrent.
HMS Conqueror was a British Churchill-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine which served in the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1990. She was the third submarine of her class, following the earlier Churchill and Courageous, that were all designed to face the Soviet threat at sea. She was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead.
HMS Aeneas (P427) was a British Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by Cammell Laird and launched on 9 October 1945. It was named after the hero Aeneas from Greek mythology.
HMS Onyx was an Oberon class submarine of the Royal Navy.
HMS Sluys was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named in honour of the Battle of Sluys which occurred in 1340 during the Hundred Years' War, and which resulted in a decisive English victory over a French fleet. Sluys was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead. She was launched on 28 February 1945 and commissioned on 30 September 1946. In 1967, the ship was transferred to Pahlavi Iran and renamed Artemiz. In 1985, the ship was renamed again, this time Damavand.
The Le Redoutable-class submarine was a ballistic missile submarine class of the French Navy. In French, the type is called Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins (SNLE), literally "Missile-launching nuclear submarine". When commissioned, they constituted the strategic part of the naval component of the French nuclear triad, then called Force de frappe.
The latest HMS Warspite was the third of Britain's nuclear-powered submarines, and the second of the Valiant class. After entering service in 1967 she collided with a Soviet submarine the following year. A mechanical failure associated with the submarine's nuclear reactor in 1991 led to the boat being laid up at HMNB Devonport where she awaits disposal.
HMS Yarmouth was the first modified Type 12 frigate of the Rothesay class to enter service with the Royal Navy.
HMS Sealion (S07) was a Porpoise-class submarine.
HMS Repulse (S23) was a Resolution-class ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.
HMS Revenge (S27) was the fourth of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.
HMS Londonderry was a Rothesay- or Type 12-class anti-submarine frigate of the British Royal Navy in service from 1960 to 1984.
HMS Brighton was a Rothesay or Type 12I class anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy.
HMS Lowestoft was a Rothesay-class or Type 12 class anti-submarine frigate of the British Royal Navy. Lowestoft was reconstructed in the late 1960s to largely the same pattern as the third group of Leander-class frigates, with new radar and fire control and a hangar and pad for a Westland Wasp helicopter for longer range, anti-submarine, engagement. In the late 1970s it was converted as the prototype towed array frigate for the Royal Navy, but retained its full armament. Lowestoft was sunk as a target on 8 June 1986 by HMS Conqueror using a Tigerfish torpedo. She was the last Royal Naval target to be sunk still displaying her pennant number.
HMS Whitby was a Whitby-class or Type 12 anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom built by Cammell Laird and Co Ltd, Birkenhead. She was launched on 2 July 1954 and commissioned on 10 July 1956.
HMS Narwhal (S03) was a Porpoise-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 October 1957.
The United Kingdom's Polaris programme, officially named the British Naval Ballistic Missile System, provided its first submarine-based nuclear weapons system. Polaris was in service from 1968 to 1996.