HMS Vengeance (S31)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Vengeance.

300px HMS Vengeance returning to HMNB Clyde
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Vengeance
Laid down:	1 February 1993
Launched:	19 September 1998
Commissioned:	27 November 1999
In service:	12 February 2001
Homeport:	HMNB Clyde
Motto:	Safe by my strength
Fate:	In Devonport for refit, as of 2012
Badge:	100px
General characteristics
Class & type:	Vanguard-class submarine
Displacement:	15,900 tonnes, submerged
Length:	149.9 m (491 ft 10 in)
Beam:	12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
Draught:	12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Propulsion:	1 × Rolls-Royce PWR2 nuclear reactor 2 × GEC turbines; 27,500 shp (20.5 MW) 1 × shaft, pump jet propulsor 2 × auxiliary retractable propulsion motors 2 × WH Allen turbo generators (6 MW) 2 × Paxman diesel alternators; 2,700 shp (2.0 MW)
Speed:	In excess of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), submerged
Range:	Only limited by food and maintenance requirements.
Complement:	135
Sensors and processing systems:	BAE Systems SMCS Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band navigation radar Thales Underwater Systems Type 2054 composite sonar suite comprising:  Marconi/Ferranti Type 2046 towed array sonar  Type 2043 hull-mounted active and passive search sonar  Type 2082 passive intercept and ranging sonar Pilkington Optronics CK51 search periscope Pilkington Optronics CH91 attack periscope
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Two SSE Mk10 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys RESM Racal UAP passive intercept
Armament:	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes for: Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes 16 ballistic missile tubes for: 16 × Lockheed Trident II D5 SLBMs (carrying up to 48 nuclear warhead)

HMS Vengeance is the fourth and final Vanguard-class submarine of the Royal Navy. Vengeance carries the Trident ballistic missile, the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Vengeance was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions), was launched in September 1998, and commissioned in November 1999.

Before she was commissioned, the British Government stated that once the Vanguard submarines became fully operational, they would only carry 200 warheads.

Vengeance carries the unopened "last instructions" (letters of last resort) of the current British Prime Minister that are to be used in the event of a national catastrophe or a nuclear strike.

Operational history

On 31 March 2011, while on a training exercise Vengeance suffered a blockage in her propulsor causing a reduction in propulsion. The boat returned to Faslane naval base on the surface under her own power. According to the MOD the problems were not nuclear related.

Vengeance is currently (as of 2012) undergoing a three-and-a-half year refit at HMNB Devonport near Plymouth while her sister ship Vigilant is taking her place.

Affiliations

• The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)

General characteristics

• Displacement: 16,000 tons submerged
• Propulsion: Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor, two GEC turbines, single shaft, pump jet propulsor
• Electrical Power: two Paxman diesel generators, two WH Allen turbogenerators
• Speed: 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) submerged
• Complement: 14 officers, 121 men
• Strategic Armament: 16 Lockheed Trident II D5 ballistic missiles
• Defensive Armament: four 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes, Spearfish torpedoes

See also

• Letters of last resort

External links

• Royal Navy HMS Vengeance (royalnavy.mod.uk)