Royal Navy submarines 1901-2001'aw News

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Y NEWS, SUBMARINE CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT. NOVEMBER 2001'Und:r way on

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of World War 11cuts in submarine numberswere severe, but not as

drastic as those implementedthroughout the rest of the fleet,and by the mid-1950s the subma-rine force made up a greater per-centage of the Royal Navy's orderof battle than ever before.This was just as well, since the main

threat facing the Royal Navy in the

postwar period was the rapidly-expanding Soviet submarine fleet, built

with the aid of 'liberated'German

technology.

" The first Polaris missile to be test-fired from a British submarine burstsout of the Atlantic in 1968. HMSResolution was cruising submergedabout 30 miles off Cape Kennedywhen the weapon was launched.

By CDR JEFFAs readers may be aware, Commander Richard Compion-HallSubmarine Museum, is unwell and unable to complete the seriesServices Centenari' Year. I dedicate thisfinal episode to him.

The realities of Britain's economic situa- Navy had achieved spectacular sulion meant that the maintenance of a large nuclear power, so the experimelsurface force to counter the threat was out continued.of the question, so in 1948 the interceptionThe first new British postwar,and destruction of enemy submarines was diesel-electric boat was the Pcirjdesignated as the 'primary operational and eight were laid down hetwecfunction of the British submarine fleet.This successful class was soo

At that moment the Service ceased to he by the Oherons, of which thirteena 'private navy' within the Royal Navy. but between 1957 and 1962.instead took its place at the forefront ofThese large patrol submiaritBritish naval planning,werecapable of remaining dived

Clearly a new type of submarine was weeks, could operate in any pneeded, but until the necessary research world, and were extremely quietand development required for a new boat which when combined with theicould be completed - which included exper- sensor fit made them highly Ca

imenhing with high test peroxide as a fuel - ventional submarines.

1sonic form of stopap was neededWhile the Navy was building

" HMS Otus enters Haslar Creek flying herJolly Rogerin 1991 and resplendent in cam-ouflage paint, causing speculation aboutcloak-and-dagger operations in the Gulf.She was also paying off after almost 30years service.

" IlL I LUIt was tile LtJLIVLLML)li Lii

some Tclas.s boats and nearly allthe A-class to give them a stream-lined form and faster underwater

speed.This greatly enhanced their per-

formance, although it must he saidthat the development of sensorsand weapons during this period didnot keep pace with advances indesign and construction.

However, they did developsur-veillanceskills, and from 1951these were put to practical use infamiliar northern waters.Rumour has it that a couple

came hack from patrol with theircars ringing!

In order to look at high speedoptions. and following on from the

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Lulimarinesthe rate of one every fifteen momthe late 1960% and 197th, its ccSSK. skilfully bore the brunt of

panoply of submarine operatiomOffensive and defensive anti

and anti-ship operations, forwalance, special forces operationsurface and air forces, weapon ticand, last but not least, showinwere all tasks undertakenwith rrover a period of more than thirb

Yet

for all their cxccll

Porpoises and Ohcrons.

replacement Upholder cnever overcome the limitations itheir slow speed of tieploymaallied to the lack of forward supruled them out from the front Iii

I--- : experience gained from the cap- response in a world scenario

tuned U-l4tl7 (FIMS Meteorite). increasingly by brush-lire confroi

.,I___ - -- - - - the Royal Navy built two unarmed

submarines fitted withSadly, as a dividend of peace.

the conventional submarine ilti

I - - - - '_-- - - - improved

high test peroxide engines. IlM5i of wonderful service in the Ri

I - - ''-.- I xplorer and Fxe ilihur (eiilloquidrew to a close in 1994,

r - _-.ills known as the exploder class) Under was on nuclear pos

- -S

By the time they were conimis no fmuus signal sent

- - satmed in lVSS however, the us Commanding Officer of USS N-

- January 17. 1955, as she vuGrolon. Connecticut.

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With h,-rconstruction thegiven its first true submarine,

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'came a revolution in underwater

- .-' - -- --- -' -. _____With almost unlimited endun

for the crew being the limiting-married the submarine's

-strengthsof stealth and surpr:

speed greater than its potential- - No longer were they platfoni-- - --lion relying on their quarry ft

them; nowthey couldcarry theh

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-- -_-potentialenemy."

--' -_ - - Admiral ofthefleet FarlM

- --' - -_- . -.-FirstSea Lord between 1955 ant.

- - -'- - - -oneof the driving forces behind

venture into nuclear power. sceir-

' --- duction into submarines as e

-Britishsea power was not to witi

it-

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-T -FRONT COVER: HMS Dreadnought sits at the top of the world in March 197Lwhen'1

" Another picture taken at the top of the world, this

nuclear Fleet submarine popped through thin ice at the North Pole, she became the firthesttime with nuclear attack submarine HMS Trenchant

British submarine to visit this hostile region. A guard with a rifle kept watch for polar bearsmeeting up with USS Spadefish in 1992. The ice was too

as a few hardy sailors ventured out into an Arctic afternoon on which, with wind-chill, tern-thin on this occasion to allow the traditional games of

peratures fell below -10017. Pictures: Navy News I Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosportcricket and baseball. Also in the picture is a Royal Air

Force Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

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NAVY NEWS. SUBMARINE CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT, NOVEMBER 2001 3

RucleapTALLMBE RN, my predecessor at the Royal Navybe started at the beginning of the Submarine

je,ess with HMS Dreadnought was commissioned inat was dis- April 1963, and the greatest technological

step forward in the history of British sub-

design of a marines had been taken since 1901, the yeariose class, of the Service's birth.'n 1955-58. During the Cold War it was against an followed massive array of powerful threats that ouri were built SSNs and SSBNs, and those of our US

allies, operated.set, which Indeed, it could he claimed that it wasfor several this underwater battle ofwits, fought out ofart of the public sight and often out of mind, that

feature proved to he the crucial confrontation; itr excellent was, of course. won.ptt'le con- In 1982, during the Falklands Conflict,

HMS Conqueror demonstrated the majorup its fleet capability of the submarine in warfare.(SSNs) at Traditionally, submarines were weaponsills during of attrition, but in her action againstnsentional Belgrano. Conqueror demonstrated thatAte global they were capable of having a major influ-

ence on the maritime battle.submarine ibday. the SSN (our Swiftsures andrd surveil. Trafalgars, worthy successors to the brilliants, training Valiants) remain the most potent force atvclopment sea that will assure the supremacy of west-t he hag, em navies. which for maritime nationscat success 'doth the well-being of the state depend'.Wars. In addition to the many roles they inher-

ited from their predecessors. they haveenee. theand their

increasing importance in the brush-fire

operations mentioned earlier, and the addi-law, could ti on of the iiimahawk Land Attack Missilemposcd by to their armoury makes them a vital andml which, flexible part o[ a'nv cohesive detence strate-pcwt bases,

gv for the modern world,ic of rapid 'l'hc arrival of I IMS Astute into the fleetdominated in 2(M)5 will herald another step change in

capability.Ate era of:r 93 years continuing role will he the protection

Ain.yal Navy, of the National Deterrent. described

1968 by the Doily 1i'legraph as 'theer" is the best insurance policy the nation ever had'.1w the The development of the Polaris missile

lat.tilus on programme in the USA was horn oniled from January. I, 1957. because it was recognized

that the submarine was the ultimate inwt-rld was deterrent platforms since, unlike fixed landnd with it installations or aircraft, it was mobile, gavew.trfare. little warning and, providing that it wasince (food quiet, was almost invulnerable,ftieLor), it The 'Special Projects Office' was estab-traditional lished under Rear Admiral William Rabornise with a USN, and the UK watched its progress withusrry. interest, though she was intent on basingas of posi- her own deterrent on the airborne Skyboltcome to carried by a fleet of V-bombers, and the

attic to the land-based Blue Streak missiles.When these projects were cancelled or

iunthattcn, failed, the fact that the Navy was able toI 1959. was suggest a speedy and coherent alternativeth: Navy's was once again due to the foresight of

tg is intro- Admiral Mounthatlen who, as First Seassential if Lord, had secured the agreement in 1958 oficr. Admiral Arleigh Burke. the US Chief Of

Naval Operations. to allow theappointment of a British Liai-

heads, which would be under national con-trol, thus making the deterrent indepen-dent.

Four days later, the UK Polaris Executivewas established, and the then flag OfficerSubmarines, Rear Admiral Hugh 'Rufus'Mackenzie DSO' DSC, a distinguishedWorld War II Commanding Officer, waschosen to head it.

With a target date of 1968, the team tookon this massive project, which called formuch personal sacrifice and incredibly hardwork.The fact that they succeeded, with FIMS

Resolution firing the first test missile withinmilliseconds of the date planned five yearsearlier, was a stunning accolade to the indi-viduals concerned and to British industry.The history of Polaris, with 229 unbroken

deterrent patrols, was a total success and,with its mid-life update of Chevaline in1982. it remained a truly credible deterrentuntil HMS Repulse decommissioned in

August 1996.The reins of the national deterrent.

including a sub-strategic role, have now

passed to the four mighty Vanguard-classSSIINs, equipped with the Trident D5 mis-sile -

despite the growth in asymmetricthreats to world peace, their highly relevant

story continues.

The

legacy of the pioneers through thecentury is a record of sacrifice andachievement of which all British sub-

mariners through the ages can be proud.What is unchanging is the man - as Lt

('1)1 Bradley Gaylord USA,: observed afterthree days on board IIMS Seraph in 1942:"You suddenly realise that here is tine ofthe essential points about war: there is nosubstitute for good company.

"The boys in the Submarine Service con-vey a spirit which explains why they wouldsooner he in submarines than anywhereelse" (The Ship with iivo Captains - TërenceRobertson).

Jeff Tall. a submariner for almost thirtyyears and the captain offoar HM submarines,has been the Dirt-c-tar of the Rosa! NavySubmarine Museum since July 1994. Hi.sproudest achievement since moving into thepost is getting Holland / back on t!ixptav inMay 2(X)! after a six-year conservation andpreservation programme. More informationon the Museum can be found on its weh.otewww,nsuhmus.c'o.uk

© Royal Navy Submarine Museum

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son Officer to t-(ahorn 5 team . :- -When Skyholt foundered in ., - -

the US in 1461 President -Kennedy met with Prime - - :-Minister Harold Macmillan in

r Nassau On December 20-21and acrccd to transfer Polaris

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I teennojoL" to Britain. - -

4 The UK would dcvelon andmanotacture t own w:c- -

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w" T-class submanne HMS --

Telemachus (left), whichsaw duty with the Royal - --

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Australian Navy for ten -L -a i-years. She arrived back in L - - =a.---' - - ---- -=--Bntain in December 1959, F' '

''ffandwassent totnebreak-ersi

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" Diesel-electric 0-boat HMSOcelot, pictured in the late1 with her new stream-lined sonar dome.

" Left: Unarmed experimental submarine HMS Explorer, known to some as HMS Exploder. Theboat was fuelled by high test peroxide, a potent and ultimately abandoned form of energy whichwas superseded by nuclear power.

" Above: HMS Conqueror flies the dolly Roger. The submarine had a major role to play in theFalklands Conflict, when she sank the cruiser Belgrano.

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NAVY NEWS. SUBMARINE CENTENARY SUPPLEMENT. NOVEMBER 2OO1 www.navynews.co.uk

'Under wajy>nnuclear power

• Above: the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile gives modemnuclear attack submarines of the S and T-class additional flexibil-ity in the era of brush-fire confrontations.

• Right: Trident superseded Polaris as the UK's national strate-gic nuclear deterrent, and with the new missile system came anew class of submarine, the Vanguard -class. Below is the first ofthe four, HMS Vanguard, on her way to the Clyde Naval Base.

• The paying-off of HMS Opossum in 1993 marked the end of an era for the Royal Navy- the diesel-electric boat was the last of the Oberon-class, and her last run into HMSDolphin was the final act of 90 years' continuous submarine operations out of Gosport.

This is the last of four supplements this year which build into a historyof the Submarine Service. Part 1 appeared in our January edition, Part 2in May and Part 3 in September. To order a copy of the January, May orSeptember editions, telephone 023 9282 6040.

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