would enter service as a Resolution Class boat was decommissioned.
In the event, the original Contract ordering programme which anticipated orders placed annually over four consecutive years was stretched considerably by the MoD to around seven years. The shipyard responded to these unforeseen delays by utilising its design capability and production capacity to make a brief but successful return to merchant shipbuilding. Orders for three 4500-tonne clean products tankers were secured and production slotted in and around the Trident Build Programme in the DDH to optimise build capacity and keep allocated staff and trades gainfully employed.
