Devonshire Dock Hall

Vanguard class submarine

The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear or SSBN), each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). The class was introduced in 1994 as part of the UK government's Trident nuclear weapons programme.

The class includes four boats: Vanguard (S28), Victorious (S29), Vigilant (S30), and Vengeance (S31), all built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd between 1986 and 1999.

All four boats are based at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde (HMS Neptune), 25 miles (40 km) west of Glasgow, Scotland. Since the decommissioning of all WE.177 free-fall nuclear bombs in 1998, and the removal of all nuclear weapons from the British Army, the RAF, and all surface ships of the RN, the Vanguard submarines' Trident SLBM system have the UK's only nuclear weapons.

Design

The Vanguards were designed from the outset as an unlimited-range nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, unlike the previous Resolution class which was adapted from the then existing Valiant class and the American Lafayette class of nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN in US terms). At 149.9 metres long and 15,980 tonnes submerged displacement the Vanguards are roughly twice the size of the Resolutions, and are the third largest submarines ever built, by displacement when surfaced, after the Russian Typhoon and American Ohio classes. The great increase in size is largely related to much larger size of the Trident D-5 missile as compared to Polaris.

The Vanguards were designed and built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL), now BAE Systems Submarines. The Devonshire dock hall was built specifically to build these submarines. The missile compartment is based on the system used on the Ohio class, though only 16 missiles are carried rather than the 24 of the Ohio.

In addition to the missile tubes the Vanguard class is fitted with four 21 inch (53.3 cm) torpedo tubes and carries the Spearfish heavyweight torpedo, allowing it to engage submerged or surface targets at ranges up to 65 kilometres (40 miles). Two SSE Mark 10 launchers are also fitted to allow the boats to deploy Type 2066 and Type 2071 decoys, and a UAP Mark 3 electronic support measures (ESM) intercept system is fitted.

HMS Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance were commissioned in 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2000 respectively.

Sensors

Vanguard carries the Thales Underwater Systems Type 2054 composite sonar. The Type 2054 is a multi-mode, multi-frequency system, which incorporates the 2046, 2043 and 2082 sonars. The fleet is in the process of having their sonars refitted to include open architecture processing using commercial off the shelf technology.

A Type 2043 hull-mounted active/passive search sonar is also carried, as is a Type 2082 passive intercept and ranging sonar. Finally a Type 2046 towed array is carried. This operates at very low frequency, giving a passive search capability. Two periscopes are carried, a CK51 search model and a CH91 attack model. Both have a TV camera and thermal imager as well as conventional optics.

A Type 1007 I-band navigation radar is also carried.

Command System

A specialised Submarine Command System (SMCS) was originally developed for the Vanguard boats and was later used on other Royal Navy submarines.

Propulsion

A new pressurised water reactor, the PWR 2, was designed for the Vanguard class. This has double the service life of previous models, and it is estimated that a Vanguard class submarine could circumnavigate the world 40 times without refuelling. This should allow the class to carry out their entire service life without the need for expensive refuelling. The reactor drives two GEC turbines linked to a single shaft pump jet propulsor. This propulsion system gives the Vanguards a maximum submerged speed of 25 knots. Auxiliary power requirements are provided by a pair of 6MW Steam-turbine generators supplied by WH Allen, (later known as NEI Allen, Allen Power & Rolls-Royce) with two Paxman diesel alternators for provision of backup power supply.

History

Table 1 Vanguard class—significant dates
Name	Launched	Commissioned	Test launch 1	Test launch 2	Maiden patrol
HMS Vanguard (S28)	March 1992	August 1993	May 26, 1994	June 20, 1994	December 1994
HMS Victorious (S29)	September 1993	January 1995	July 24, 1995	August 22, 1995	December 1995
HMS Vigilant (S30)	October 1995	November 1996	October 10, 1997	October 10, 1997	June 1998
HMS Vengeance (S31)	September 1998	27 November 1999	September 21, 2000	N/A	February 2001

The submarines were built in specially constructed facilities at Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions), Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The Trident II D-5 achieved an initial operational capability with the U.S. Navy in March 1990. Following launch and commissioning the vessels deployed on Demonstration and Shakedown Operations (DASOs). The major part of this was the test firing of Trident missiles at the United States' SLBM Launch Area, Eastern Test Range, Cape Canaveral, off the coast of Florida (see table above).

General characteristics

Displacement: 15,980 tonnes submerged
Length: 149.9 metres
Beam: 12.8 metres
Draught: 12 metres
Complement: 14 officers, 121 ratings
Propulsion: PWR2 reactor
Armament:

16 missile tubes capable of firing Trident II (D5) missiles
four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes capable of firing Spearfish or other 21 inch torpedoes.