Swiftsure Class (1971)

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Swiftsure class p1
Ship data
country United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type Nuclear submarine
Shipyard Vickers , Barrow-in-Furness
Construction period 1969 to 1981
Launch of the type ship 7th September 1971
Units built 6th
period of service 1973 to 2010
Ship dimensions and crew
length
82.9 m ( Lüa )
width 9.8 m
Draft Max. 8.5 m
displacement Submerged: 4,900 t
 
crew 116 men
Machine system
machine 1 PWR1 nuclear reactor
steam turbine
Top
speed 		28 kn (52 km / h)
Armament
Sensors
  • Bow and side sonar
  • Towed antenna
  • Attack and search periscopes
  • Collision warning radar
  • Equipment for electronic warfare

The nuclear-powered submarines of the Swiftsure class of Royal Navy served until 2010 as offensive and Fleet submarines.

history

A total of six SSNs were built, none of which has been in service since 2010:

  • HMS Swiftsure S126 (1973-1992)
  • HMS Sovereign S108 (1974-2006)
  • HMS Superb S109 (1976-2008)
  • HMS Scepter S104 (1978-2010)
  • HMS Spartan S105 (1979-2006)
  • HMS Splendid S106 (1981-2004)

As the last boat in the class, the Scepter left the fleet on December 10, 2010. In 2003 it was decided not to purchase a successor to the Swiftsure class. The Astute class originally designed for this purpose will only replace the Trafalgar class submarines . This will reduce the total number of submarines from 13 to seven in the long term.

Accident of the HMS Superb

On May 26, 2008 the Superb collided with 112 crew members under the command of Steve Drysdale in the Red Sea , around 120 km south of Suez , at a depth of 132 meters with an underwater rock. The sonar system on board was considerably damaged and the ballast tanks were not damaged much. The Superb was at the time of the accident on the way to the Indian Ocean and ran after hitting the Jordanian base Aqaba on to inspect the damage. The first repair work was carried out on June 9th in Souda Bay on Crete , and on June 28th the submarine finally returned to England. At the Devonport base , further investigations were carried out to decide whether the Superb should return to operational service, as her retirement was planned for 2009 anyway. It was decided that repairs would no longer be worthwhile for the few remaining months, so it was taken out of service on September 26, 2008.

technology

The boats of this class are powered by a pressurized water reactor and were designed as attack submarines during the Cold War . From 1997 to 2002 the boats were overhauled to allow them to fire BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the land attack variant ( TLAM ).

Remarks

  1. ↑ http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2837249820080628
  2. ↑ Michael Evans: UK submarine hits Red Sea rocks , The Times. May 28, 2008. 
  3. ^ Arrival in Crete , Royal Navy. June 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. 
  4. ^ Superb submarine's final service , BBC. September 26, 2008. 

literature

  • Ministry of Defense (ed.): The Royal Navy Handbook , Conway Maritime Press, London 2003. ISBN 0-85177-952-2 .

Web links