Swiftsure class submarine
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HMS Sceptre |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd |
| Operators: |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by: | Churchill-class |
| Succeeded by: | Trafalgar-class |
| In commission: | April 17, 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,400 tons standard; 4,900 tons submerged |
| Length: | 82.9 m |
| Beam: | 9.8 m |
| Draught: | 8.5 m |
| Speed: | In excess of 28 knots when dived |
| Range: | Unlimited (nuclear) |
| Complement: | 116 officers and men |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
bow, flank, active intercept, and towed array sonar |
| Armament: | 5 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, Spearfish torpedoes, RN Sub Harpoon missiles, Tomahawk missiles |
The Royal Navy's Swiftsure-class of nuclear fleet submarines (SSN) is the older of the two classes of attack submarine in service with the RN.
Six boats were built and commissioned. HMS Swiftsure was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to her pressure hull during trials. HMS Splendid followed in 2004 after defence cuts caused a reduction in the size of the RN SSN fleet. HMS Spartan was decommissioned in January 2006,with HMS Sovereign following on 12 September 2006. The remaining two boats in the class are scheduled to be out of service by 2010, with HMS Superb going in 2008, followed by HMS Sceptre. They are being replaced by the Astute-class submarine.
A few can now fire Tomahawk missiles in addition to their original armaments of torpedoes, mines and anti-ship missiles.
[edit] Incidents
28th May 2008, HMS Superb of the Swiftsure class collided with a rock while submerged in the Red Sea. No injuries, or reactor damage resulted, yet the submarine had to surface and remain surfaced due to damage to the sonar equipment.
[edit] General characteristics
- Builder: Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd
- Displacement: 4400 tons standard; 4900 tons submerged
- Length: 83 m
- Beam: 9.8 m
- Draught: 8.5 m
- Complement: 13 officers, 103 ratings
- Armament: 5 tubes capable of firing:
- Spearfish torpedoes
- Tigerfish torpedoes
- RN Sub Harpoon missiles
- Tomahawk missiles (selected submarines only)
- Sensors:
- sonar (bow, flank, active intercept, and towed array sonar)
- periscopes (attack and search)
- collision avoidance radar
[edit] References
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