Although Triumph was the seventh and last Trafalgar Class submarine, she was unique in one important respect. She was the first submarine to be built and completed within the Devonshire Dock Hall -centrepiece of the huge covered construction complex that dominates the Barrow skyline.
Ordered in January 1986 and laid down in May 1987 she was built using modular construction and advanced outfitting techniques and was ready for 'launching' by December 1990. At 'launch', she had the distinction of being in the most advanced state of any boat built at Barrow. She was transported on steel cradles raised on a power train of linked rail-mounted bogies that moved her slowly out of the hall and onto the new 24000-tonnes capacity shiplift. On December 4th, the shiplift's 108 electric winches lowered the 4200 tons of submarine at 200mm/minute into the water - another first since all previous Royal Navy submarines had been launched dynamically down the slipways.
Launching by shiplift, whilst lacking the spectacle of dynamic launches, is less stressful on the hull, safer and simpler, and offers reductions in build time and cost. It also enables submarines to be 'launched' irrespective of time, tide and weather and to be retrieved from the water as necessary. Triumph was not named at 'launch' but was given her name in a special formal ceremony held alongside on February 16th 1991.
HMS Triumph embarked on Contractors Sea Trials on June 13th 1991 and completed her trials successfully and in record time, returning to Barrow on July 13th. After a brief docking period back on the shiplift, she commissioned on October 12th 1991.
