The Resolution
-class submarine armed with the Polaris missileThe Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy. It was designed to be used as part of the Navy's contribution to the United States arsenal of nuclear...
was the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's primary nuclear deterrentA nuclear deterrent is the phrase used to refer to a country's nuclear weapons arsenal, when considered in the context of deterrence theory.Deterrence theory holds that nuclear weapons are intended to deter other states from attacking with their nuclear weapons, through the promise of retaliation...
from the late 1960s to 1994, when they were replaced by the Vanguard-class submarine
The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
carrying the
Trident IIThe Trident missile is a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle submarine-launched ballistic missile designed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in the United States which is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines...
.
Background
During the 1950s and early 1960s, the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's nuclear deterrent was through the RAF's V-bombers. But developments in
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
and surface-to-air missiles made it clear that bombers were becoming vulnerable, and would be unlikely to penetrate Soviet airspace by the early 1960s. Free-fall nuclear weapons would no longer be a credible deterrent.
To address this problem, in May 1960 Prime Minister
MacmillanMaurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
arranged a deal with President
EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
to equip the V-bombers with the US-designed
AGM-48 SkyboltThe Douglas GAM-87A Skybolt was an air-launched ballistic missile developed during the late 1950s. It was intended to provide a mobile basing for the USAF's ICBM missile force by mounting them on heavy bombers rather than in fixed missile silos. The UK joined the program in 1960, intending to use...
. The Skybolt was a range ballistic missile that allowed the launching bombers to remain well away from Soviet defences and launch attacks that would be basically invulnerable. With this range, the V-bombers would have to fly only a few hundred miles from their bases before being in range of an attack on
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
.
Under the agreement, the UK's contribution to the program was limited to developing suitable mounting points on the
Avro VulcanThe Avro Vulcan is a delta wing subsonic jet bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1984. The Vulcan was part of the RAF's V bomber force, which fulfilled the role of nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was also used in a conventional bombing...
bomber, installing the required guidance systems that fed the missiles updated positioning information, and development of their own version of the US
W47The W47 was an American thermonuclear warhead used on the Polaris A-1 sub-launched ballistic missile system. Various models were in service from 1960 through the end of 1974.
...
warhead to arm it, the RE.179
http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/alpha.htm.
The Skybolt Crisis
The incoming Kennedy administration expressed serious doubts with both Skybolt and the UK deterrent force in general.
Robert McNamaraRobert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968. Following that he served as President of the World Bank from 1968 until 1981...
was highly critical of the US bomber fleet, which he saw as obsolete in an age of ICBMs. Skybolt was seen simply as a way to continue the existence of a system he no longer considered credible, and given the rapidly improving capabilities of inertial guidance systems, their precision strike capability with free-fall bombs would no longer be needed. McNamara was equally concerned about the UK retaining an independent nuclear force, and worried that the US could be drawn into a war by the UK, or using the UK as a proxy hostage by the Soviets. He wanted to draw the UK into a dual-key arrangement.
McNamara first broached the idea of cancelling Skybolt with the British in November 1962. When this was reported in the House of Commons, a firestorm of protest broke out. A
meetingThe Nassau Agreement, signed in December 1962, was a treaty negotiated between President John F. Kennedy for the United States and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan for the United Kingdom...
was arranged to settle the issue, and Macmillan stated in no uncertain terms that the UK would be retaining their independent deterrent capability, no matter what the cost. With development of their Polaris-derived warheads well along, a suitable launch platform would be developed, if need be.
Faced with a clear failure in policy terms, Kennedy gave up on the idea of strong-arming Britain into accepting a dual-key arrangement. By the end of the series of meetings, the UK had
gained the much more impressive Polaris systemThe Polaris Sales Agreement was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom which formally arranged for the Polaris missile system to be provided to the UK to maintain its independent nuclear deterrent. The arrangement had been set up in principle as a result of the Nassau Agreement...
, and would start development of a new submarine to launch them. The SSBNs would then take over the nuclear deterrent role from the RAF's V-bombers from 1968 onwards.
Construction
Two pairs of the boats were ordered in May 1963 from Vickers Shipbuilding Ltd, Barrow in Furness and from Cammell Laird and Co. Ltd,
BirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
. The option of buying a fifth unit, planned as
RamilliesFive ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ramillies after the Battle of Ramillies :*HMS Ramilles was 82-gun second-rate launched in 1664 as HMS Royal Katherine. She was renamed HMS Ramillies in 1706, and was wrecked in 1760. was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1763. She was damaged in a...
, was cancelled in February 1965. Traditional battleship names were used, signifying that they were the
capital shipThe capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; the ones with the heaviest firepower and armor. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a fleet....
s of the time.
Vickers ArmstrongVickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Ltd was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England that built warships and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Construction Works of Vickers Armstrongs and has a heritage of building large naval warships and...
in
Barrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies 100 miles northwest of Manchester and 54 miles southwest from the county town of Carlisle. The town is situated at the tip of...
constructed Resolution
and Repulse
and Cammell LairdCammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.-Founding of the business:The Company was...
in BirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
constructed Renown
and Revenge
. The construction was unusual in that the bow and stern were constructed separately before being assembled together with the American-designed missile compartment.
The design was a modification of the Valiant-class Fleet Submarine
The Valiant class was the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine, as the first nuclear submarine, , used an American nuclear reactor. There were only two boats of the class, the first boat, Valiant being commissioned just three years after Dreadnought in 1966, while Warspite commissioned the...
, but greatly extended to incorporate the missile compartment between the fin and the nuclear reactor. The length was 130 metres, breadth 10.1 metres, height 9 metres and the displacement submerged and surfaced. A
Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce plc is a British aircraft engine maker, and the second-largest in the world, behind GE Aviation. The company has related businesses in the defence aerospace, marine and energy markets....
pressurised water reactor and English Electric Company turbines gave them a speed of and they could dive to depths of . Sixteen Polaris A3 missiles were carried, in two rows of eight. For emergencies there was a diesel generator and six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes located at the bow, firing the Tigerfish wire-guided homing torpedoes. The submarines put to sea with a crew of 143.
Construction Programme
| Pennant In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
|
Name |
(a) Hull builder
(b) Main machinery manufacturers |
Ordered |
Laid down |
Launched |
Accepted
into service |
Commissioned |
Estimated
building cost |
| S22 |
ResolutionHMS Resolution was the first of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.Ordered in May 1963, she was built by Vickers Armstrong at a cost of £40.2m. The keel was laid down on 26 February 1964 by the Director General Ships, Sir Alfred Sims, and the launch was on 15 September...
|
(a) Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, Barrow-in-Furness
(b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness
(b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines)
(b) Rolls Royce and Associates Ltd. |
May 1963 |
26 February 1964 |
15 September 1966 |
October 1967 |
2 October 1967 |
£40,240,000 |
| S23 |
Repulse HMS Repulse was a Resolution-class ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.Launched on 4 November 1967, she was the last of her class remaining in service with the navy, decommissioning in 1996....
|
(a) Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, Barrow-in-Furness
(b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness
(b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines). |
May 1963 |
12 March 1965 |
4 November 1967 |
October 1968 |
28 September 1968 |
£37,500,000 |
| S26 |
Renown HMS Renown was the third of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.Built by Cammell Laird and launched on 25 February 1967, she was decommissioned in 1996.- External links :*...
|
(a) Cammell Laird & Co (Shipbuilders and Engineers) Ltd, Birkenhead
(b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness
(b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines). |
May 1963 |
25 June 1964 |
25 February 1967 |
December 1968 |
15 November 1968 |
£39,950,000 |
| S27 |
Revenge HMS Revenge was the fourth of the Royal Navy's Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines.Built by Cammell Laird and launched on 15 March 1968, she was marked for disposal in 1992. She is currently being dismantled at Rosyth dockyard, near Edinburgh. Her old reactor core may end up being buried...
|
(a) Cammell Laird & Co (Shipbuilders and Engineers) Ltd, Birkenhead
(b) Vickers Ltd, Engineering Group, Barrow-in-Furness
(b) English Electric Co Ltd (turbines). |
May 1963 |
19 May 1965 |
15 March 1968 |
December 1969 |
4 December 1969 |
£38,600,000 |
|
Ramillies |
|
|
Cancelled 1964. |
|
Operational service
The first to be completed was HMS Resolution
, laid down in February 1964 and launched in September 1966. After commissioning in 1967 she underwent a long period of sea trials culminating in the test firing of a Polaris missile. Fired from the USAF Eastern Test Range off Cape Kennedy at 11:15 on 15 February 1968. Resolution commenced her first operational patrol on 15 June 1968, beginning 28 years of Polaris patrols. The class were part of the 10th Submarine Squadron, all based at
Faslane Naval BaseHer Majesty's Naval Base Clyde is one of three UK operating bases for the Royal Navy...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
All four of the class underwent conversion during the 1980s so that they could be fitted with the Polaris AT-K missile which was fitted with the British developed
ChevalineChevaline was a system to improve the penetrability of the British Polaris missile warheads. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet defences around Moscow, the system was intended to increase the probability that at least one warhead would penetrate the city's anti-ballistic missile ...
MRV system.
As the newer Vanguard
-class submarines entered service, the Resolution
class was eventually retired and all boats laid up at Rosyth dockyardRosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard in Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, which today primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels. Rosyth Dockyard is owned by Babcock PLC.-History:...
with their reactors removed.
Refits
New methods of project management were used in the refits of the Resolution class, including:
- "The appointment of a senior officer of two star rank and with the title of Assistant Controller (Polaris), working under the joint superintendence of the Controller of the Navy and Chief of Fleet Support, whose responsibilities will include the oversight of the preparations for refits of Polaris boats, and their completion;"
- "The delegation to a designated officer (Director, Project Technical Submarines) of the responsibility for drawing up the "work package" for each refit, which will include full design information and documentation;"
- "The use of a fully integrated refit management team at Rosyth, and"
- "The full use of available management techniques and aids, including computers."
Fictional submarines
- In the James Bond
James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
film The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
, the fictional Polaris submarine HMS Ranger is hijacked by the film's main villain.
- The 1987 book Skydancer by Geoffrey Archer
Geoffrey Archer is a fiction writer from London, England. He specialises in military adventures and spy thrillers and created the character Sam Packer. His writing has some similarity to that of Stephen Coonts, Graham Hurley and Phillip Kerr....
features a fictional British Polaris submarine, HMS Retribution.
- The 1971 book The Fighting Temeraire by John Winton features a fictional British Polaris submarine, HMS Temeraire which is used on a spying mission in the Black Sea.