 HMS Resolution in 1977 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Resolution |
| Ordered | May 1963 |
| Builder | Vickers Shipbuilding Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down | 26 February 1964 |
| Launched | 15 September 1966 |
| Commissioned | 2 October 1967 |
| Decommissioned | 22 October 1994 |
| 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 |
|
| Range | Unlimited except by food supplies |
| Complement | 143 (two crews) |
HMS Resolution (S22) was the first of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.[1] She operated from 1968 until 1994 providing the UK Polaris at sea nuclear deterrent.[1]
The submarine was ordered on 21 May 1963 with Vickers Armstrong at a cost of £40.2m.[2]
The keel was laid down at Barrow-in-Furness on 26 February 1964 by the Director General Ships, Sir Alfred Sims.[3]
She was launched was on 15 September 1966, attended by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.[4] After fitting out, she proceeded to sea on 22 June 1967.[4] The submarine was commissioned on 2 October 1967, and following extensive trials, including the firing of her first Polaris missile on 15 February 1968, commenced her first patrol on 14 June 1968.[5] To ensure continuous operation, she was the first Royal Navy submarine to operate with two dedicated crews, who would relieve each other, known as port and starboard respectively.[4]
The ship was assigned to the 10th Submarine Squadron (United Kingdom) where it operated as the first of the UKs new Polaris based nuclear deterrent.[2]
Her Polaris system was updated in 1984 with the Chevaline IFE (Improved Front End) that included two new warheads and re-entry bodies and penaids, super-hardened to resist ABM attack, replacing the original three ET.317 warheads.
Resolution conducted the longest patrol of any Polaris submarine being at sea for 108 days in 1991.[6]
During the early stages of the Falklands War, the BBC World News reported that Resolution was stationed off Buenos Aires. A similar story appeared in 1984 in the New Statesman which alleged that Resolution was sent south, as a means of launching a nuclear attack against Córdoba in the event that a Royal Navy aircraft carrier be sunk.[7]
In reality, Resolution's crew were having to deal with an upsurge of Soviet SSN activity, with Resolution having to take evasive action to avoid a November-class submarine. Despite Soviet efforts, Resolution was never found during her 72-day patrol.[7]
Following the completion of the first Trident-carrying Vanguard-class submarine in 1992, the Resolution class were gradually removed from service. Resolution was decommissioned on 22 October 1994,[6] after 69 patrols, and laid up at the Rosyth Dockyard.[6] She remains in the main basin at Rosyth, intact but with her reactor defuelled; the MOD has yet to finalise plans for removal of the radioactive reactor parts and the scrapping of the boat.[8]
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