100 YEARS OF BARROW-BUILT RN SUBMARINES, 1901-2001
TRAFALGAR CLASS, 1971 on
THE NEXT GENERATION SSN
TRAFALGAR CLASS FLEET NUCLEAR SUBMARINES -1983 ONWARDS
The first of a new class of seven fleet submarines was ordered from VSEL Barrow in September 1977. Conceived as the 'Modified Swiftsure Class' and subsequently termed the 'Improved Swiftsure Class' they were designed to be considerably quieter than previous submarines and their pressure hull and outer surfaces were clad with conformal anechoic noise reducing tiles. In a departure from traditional practice, a 1/5th scale perspex model was built for proving and perfecting the design rather than full size wooden mock-ups of critical parts.
The Trafalgar Class submarines feature improved speed and endurance and are fitted with retractable forward hydroplanes and a strengthened fin for under ice operations. Diving depth is designed to be in excess of 300m.
The first of class, SSN13 HMS Trafalgar has a propeller and can readily be distinguished by her taller rudder. Laid down in 1979 and launched on July 1st 1981, she commissioned in 1983. Trafalgar became the trials submarine for Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes now fitted to all boats of the class in addition to their Tigerfish Mk 24 Mod 2 torpedoes and Sub Harpoon Block 1C missiles. Submarine mines can also be carried in lieu of torpedoes.
SSN14 HMS Turbulent was ordered in 1978, laid down in 1980, launched on December 1st 1982 and commissioned in 1984. She has a pump jet propulsor in lieu of a propeller and a more compact rudder - features which became standard for the remainder of the class.
SSN 15 HMS Tireless was ordered in 1979, laid down in 1981, launched on March 17th 1984 and commissioned in 1985.
SSN16 HMS Torbay was ordered in 1981, laid down in 1982, launched on March 8th 1985 and commissioned in 1987.
SSN17 HMS Trenchant was ordered in 1983, laid down in 1984, and launched on November 3rd 1986. In 1988, prior to being commissioned in January 1989, she was used to trial the new shiplift and rail transfer arrangements being introduced at Barrow in readiness for the last boat of the class, Triumph, and the first three next generation Ballistic Nuclear submarines. All four of these boats were in various stages of construction in Devonshire Dock hall - a new £183M covered build hall.
SSN18 HMS Talent was ordered in 1984, and laid down in 1986. At the time, she had the distinction of being the last boat to be built and launched down the slipway at Barrow using traditional hull construction and dynamic launch methods developed and practised since 1873. This milestone in the shipyard's history was marked by a royal launch, an honour normally reserved for unique or first-of-class vessels. HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, named and launched HMS Talent on April 15th 1988. Talent left for sea trials in December 1989 and commissioned at Barrow in the presence of HRH Princess Anne in 1990.
SSN19 HMS Triumph
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.
In Service
The Trafalgar Class all belong to the 2nd Submarine Squadron based at Devonport. Since build, each boat has received a combat data system update at refit with Type 2076 sonar integrated with the SMCS (Submarine Command System) and countermeasures. The Class has progressively received a Spearfish heavyweight torpedo fit and a 1000 mile range Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile (TLAM) capability is being retrofit to each boat during refit from 1998, starting with HMS Triumph and HMS Trafalgar.
At the heart of the Trafalgar Class is a powerful pressurised water reactor Type PWR1 supplied by the Reactor Machinery Contractor Rolls Royce Marine Power. Its core only requires refuelling once in every 9-10 years. Refit and refuelling is undertaken by Devonport Management Limited (DML) at Devonport Royal Dockyard. A full refit normally takes between 2 and 3 years to complete including refuelling. Two boats of the Class are normally under refit at any one time.
Safety in operation is paramount in all RN nuclear submarines and the entire SSN flotilla was temporarily withdrawn from service during year 2000 when a fault was detected in the primary coolant circuit of HMS Tireless.
The Trafalgar Class submarines can remain submerged for months at a time and cover vast distances unseen and unheard. Their principal roles are as capital units of the fleet, ready to undertake anti-ship and anti-submarine operations or support land operations with their recently acquired land attack cruise missile capability.
Improvements in connectivity with task force surface vessels and aircraft have rendered the Trafalgar Class capable of working as part of a task group in a new role known as Maritime Contributions to Joint Operations (MCJO). When not engaged in these operations, the Trafalgar Class can make excellent use of their considerable stealth capability by undertaking Intelligence Gathering patrols.
MAIN PARTICULARS
Length overall 85.4 metres
Beam 9.83 metres
Displacement,
surface 4730 tonnes
submerged 5208 tonnes
Diving Depth In excess of 300m
Speed,
submerged In excess of 32 knots dived
Armament Five 21 in. (533mm) weapon tubes;
Mk 24 Mod 2 Tigerfish torpedoes
Spearfish heavyweight homing torpedoes Sub Harpoon missiles
Tomahawk cruise missiles from 1998
Mines in lieu of torpedoes.
2 SSE Mk8 launchers for torpedo decoys
Complement,
design 100 (13 Officers, 41 SRs, 46 JRs)
operational Certain boats have operated with a 130 man crew having 18 officers
