Swiftsure class submarine
Encyclopedia
The Swiftsure class were a class of nuclear-powered
fleet submarine
s (SSN
) in service with the Royal Navy
from the early 1970s until 2010.
Six boats were built and commissioned. Swiftsure
was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to her pressure hull during trials. Splendid
followed in 2004 after defence cuts caused a reduction in the size of the RN SSN fleet. Spartan
was decommissioned in January 2006, with Sovereign
following on 12 September 2006.
Superb
was decommissioned on 26 September 2008. The remaining boat in the class, Sceptre
, was decommissioned in December 2010. They are being replaced by the Astute-class submarines
.
A few were upgraded with the capability to launch Tomahawk
cruise missiles in addition to their original armaments of torpedo
es, mines
and anti-ship missiles. They were also the first class of Royal Navy submarines to be fitted "as built" with a shrouded pump-jet propulsor
.
, Valiant
and Churchill
classes all had a "whale-shaped hull"
, of "near-perfect streamlining giving maximum underwater efficiency". The hulls were of British design, "based on the pioneering work of the US Navy in Skipjack
and Albacore
." The hull of the Swiftsure was a different shape and maintained its diameter for a much greater length than previous classes. Compared with the Valiants the Swiftsures were 13 feet "shorter with a fuller form, with the fore-planes set further forward, with one less torpedo tube and with a deeper diving depth."
A second major change was in propulsion. Rather than the seven/nine-bladed propeller
used by the previous classes, all but the first of the Swiftsure-class submarines used a shrouded pump-jet propulsor. The prototype propulsor had powered the Churchill
. It is not clear why the Swiftsure
was the only one of the class not fitted with a propulsor. The propulsor was perhaps as much as 50% more efficient than a propeller, producing the same speed at lower revolutions, thus reducing the noise signature. In addition all pipework connections to equipment on the main machinery raft had expansion/flexible coupling connections, which also reduced noise. The US Navy secured a licence to copy the main shaft flexible coupling arrangement in US-built submarines.
. No injuries or reactor damage resulted, but the submarine was forced to surface due to damage to the sonar
equipment.
, as she enters the Norfolk Naval Station.
Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
fleet submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s (SSN
Hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
) in service with the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
from the early 1970s until 2010.
Six boats were built and commissioned. Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure (S126)
HMS Swiftsure was the lead ship of her class of nuclear fleet submarines. HMS Swiftsure was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to the pressure hull during trials....
was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to her pressure hull during trials. Splendid
HMS Splendid (S106)
HMS Splendid was a Royal Navy nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class. HMS Splendid was launched at Barrow on 5 October 1979, by Lady Ann Eberle, wife of Admiral Sir James Eberle, then Commander-in-Chief Fleet...
followed in 2004 after defence cuts caused a reduction in the size of the RN SSN fleet. Spartan
HMS Spartan (S105)
HMS Spartan is a nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy's Swiftsure class. HMS Spartan was launched on April 7, 1978 by Lady Lygo, wife of Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo. The boat was built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England...
was decommissioned in January 2006, with Sovereign
HMS Sovereign (S108)
HMS Sovereign is a nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class.-Construction:Construction of the boat began on 18 September 1970; she was launched on 17 February 1973, and commissioned on 11 July 1974.-Operational history:...
following on 12 September 2006.
Superb
HMS Superb (S109)
HMS Superb was a nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class serving in the Royal Navy.She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding Groups, now a division of BAE Systems Submarine Solutions. HMS Superb was launched on 30 November 1974 at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and commissioned into the...
was decommissioned on 26 September 2008. The remaining boat in the class, Sceptre
HMS Sceptre (S104)
The fifth HMS Sceptre is a Swiftsure-class submarine built by Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched in 1976, with a bottle of cider against her hull. She was commissioned on 14 February 1978, by Lady Audrey White. She was the tenth nuclear fleet submarine to enter service with the Royal...
, was decommissioned in December 2010. They are being replaced by the Astute-class submarines
Astute class submarine
The Astute-class is the latest class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy. The class sets a new standard for the Royal Navy in terms of weapons load, communication facilities and stealth. The boats are being constructed by BAE Systems Submarine Solutions at...
.
A few were upgraded with the capability to launch Tomahawk
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...
cruise missiles in addition to their original armaments of torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es, mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and anti-ship missiles. They were also the first class of Royal Navy submarines to be fitted "as built" with a shrouded pump-jet propulsor
Pump-jet
A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet, is a marine system that creates a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller with nozzle, or a centrifugal pump and nozzle...
.
Design
The DreadnoughtHMS Dreadnought (S101)
The seventh HMS Dreadnought was the United Kingdom's first nuclear-powered submarine, built by Vickers Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness. Launched by Queen Elizabeth II on Trafalgar Day 1960 and commissioned into service with the Royal Navy in April 1963, she continued in service until 1980...
, Valiant
Valiant class submarine
The Valiant class were a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy from the mid 1960s until 1994. They were the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine; the earlier used an American nuclear reactor...
and Churchill
Churchill class submarine
The three Improved Valiant class submarines, sometimes known as the Churchill class, were nuclear powered fleet submarines which served with the Royal Navy from the 1970s until the early 1990s...
classes all had a "whale-shaped hull"
Teardrop hull
A teardrop hull is a submarine hull design which emphasizes hydrodynamic flow above all other factors. Benefits over previous types include increased underwater speed and a smaller acoustic signature, making detection by sonar more difficult...
, of "near-perfect streamlining giving maximum underwater efficiency". The hulls were of British design, "based on the pioneering work of the US Navy in Skipjack
Skipjack class submarine
The Skipjack class was a class of United States Navy nuclear submarines. This class was named after its lead ship, the . This new class introduced the teardrop hull and the S5W reactor to U.S. nuclear submarines. The Skipjacks were the fastest U.S...
and Albacore
USS Albacore (AGSS-569)
USS Albacore was a unique research submarine that pioneered the American version of the teardrop hull form of modern submarines. The revolutionary design was derived from extensive hydrodynamic and wind tunnel testing, with an emphasis on underwater speed and maneuverability...
." The hull of the Swiftsure was a different shape and maintained its diameter for a much greater length than previous classes. Compared with the Valiants the Swiftsures were 13 feet "shorter with a fuller form, with the fore-planes set further forward, with one less torpedo tube and with a deeper diving depth."
A second major change was in propulsion. Rather than the seven/nine-bladed propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
used by the previous classes, all but the first of the Swiftsure-class submarines used a shrouded pump-jet propulsor. The prototype propulsor had powered the Churchill
HMS Churchill (S46)
HMS Churchill was the first of three nuclear fleet submarines that served with the British Royal Navy.-Propulsion:Churchill was chosen to trial the first full-size submarine pump jet propulsion. Trials of a high-speed unit were followed by further trials with a low-speed unit, and these were...
. It is not clear why the Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure (S126)
HMS Swiftsure was the lead ship of her class of nuclear fleet submarines. HMS Swiftsure was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to the pressure hull during trials....
was the only one of the class not fitted with a propulsor. The propulsor was perhaps as much as 50% more efficient than a propeller, producing the same speed at lower revolutions, thus reducing the noise signature. In addition all pipework connections to equipment on the main machinery raft had expansion/flexible coupling connections, which also reduced noise. The US Navy secured a licence to copy the main shaft flexible coupling arrangement in US-built submarines.
Construction programme
| Pennant number Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers... |
Name | (a) Hull builder | Ordered | Laid down | Launched | Accepted into service |
Commissioned | Decommissioned | Estimated building cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S126 | Swiftsure HMS Swiftsure (S126) HMS Swiftsure was the lead ship of her class of nuclear fleet submarines. HMS Swiftsure was decommissioned in 1992 due to damage suffered to the pressure hull during trials.... |
VSEL, Barrow. | 3 November 1967 | 6 June 1969 | 7 September 1971 | 17 April 1973 | 1992 | £37,100,000 | |
| S108 | Sovereign HMS Sovereign (S108) HMS Sovereign is a nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class.-Construction:Construction of the boat began on 18 September 1970; she was launched on 17 February 1973, and commissioned on 11 July 1974.-Operational history:... |
VSEL, Barrow. | 16 May 1969 | 18 September 1970 | 17 February 1973 | 22 July 1974 | 11 July 1974 | 12 September 2006 | £31,100,000 |
| S109 | Superb HMS Superb (S109) HMS Superb was a nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class serving in the Royal Navy.She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding Groups, now a division of BAE Systems Submarine Solutions. HMS Superb was launched on 30 November 1974 at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and commissioned into the... |
VSEL, Barrow. | 20 May 1970 | 16 March 1972 | 30 November 1974 | 29 November 1976 | 13 November 1976 | 26 September 2008 | £41,300,000 |
| S104 | Sceptre HMS Sceptre (S104) The fifth HMS Sceptre is a Swiftsure-class submarine built by Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched in 1976, with a bottle of cider against her hull. She was commissioned on 14 February 1978, by Lady Audrey White. She was the tenth nuclear fleet submarine to enter service with the Royal... |
VSEL, Barrow. | 1 November 1971 | 19 February 1974 | 20 November 1976 | 11 March 1978 | 14 February 1978 | 10 December 2010. | £58,900,000 |
| S105 | Spartan HMS Spartan (S105) HMS Spartan is a nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy's Swiftsure class. HMS Spartan was launched on April 7, 1978 by Lady Lygo, wife of Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo. The boat was built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England... |
VSEL, Barrow. | 7 February 1973 | 26 April 1976 | 7 April 1978 | 10 October 1979 | 22 September 1979 | January 2006 | £68,900,000 |
| S106 | Splendid (ex-Severn) HMS Splendid (S106) HMS Splendid was a Royal Navy nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class. HMS Splendid was launched at Barrow on 5 October 1979, by Lady Ann Eberle, wife of Admiral Sir James Eberle, then Commander-in-Chief Fleet... |
VSEL, Barrow. | 26 May 1976 | 23 November 1977 | 5 October 1979 | 5 May 1981 | 21 March 1981 | 2004 | £97,000,000 |
Incidents
On 28 May 2008, HMS Superb collided with a rock while submerged in the Red SeaRed Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. No injuries or reactor damage resulted, but the submarine was forced to surface due to damage to the sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
equipment.
In fiction
HMS Sceptre acts as a nom de guerre for the Red October in Tom Clancy's eponymous novelThe Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and CIA analyst Jack Ryan.The novel was originally published by the U.S...
, as she enters the Norfolk Naval Station.
General characteristics
- Builder: Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering LtdVickers Shipbuilding and Engineering LtdIn 1994 VSEL was subject to two takeover proposals, one from GEC and another from British Aerospace . VSEL was willing to participate in a merger with a larger company to reduce its exposure to cycles in warship production, particularly following the "Options for Change" defence review after the...
- 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 torpedoSpearfish torpedoThe Spearfish torpedo is the heavy torpedo used by the submarines of the Royal Navy. It can be guided by wire or by autonomous active or passive sonar, and provides both anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface ship warfare capability.It replaces the unreliable Tigerfish torpedo, which was...
es - Tigerfish torpedoes
- RN Sub Harpoon missiles
- Tomahawk missiles (selected submarines only)
- Spearfish torpedo
- Sensors:
- sonar (bow, flank, active intercept, and towed array sonarTowed array sonarA towed array sonar is a sonar array that is towed behind a submarine or surface ship. It is basically a long cable, up to 5 km, with hydrophones that is trailed behind the ship when deployed. The hydrophones are placed at specific distances along the cable...
) - periscopePeriscopeA periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position. In its simplest form it consists of a tube with mirrors at each end set parallel to each other at a 45-degree angle....
s (attack and search) - collision avoidance radarRadarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
- sonar (bow, flank, active intercept, and towed array sonar