Fleet submarines are the nuclear-powered capital ships of the modern Navy. They are the main striking power of the Fleet and are themselves the single most effective anti-submarine weapon available. Fitted with complex computer-assisted sensors and the latest torpedoes and missiles, they can silently shadow a target for long periods at high speed while hundreds of feet below the surface, ready to attack with deadly effectiveness when required.
Following the progress made by the United States in the revolutionary field of nuclear-powered submarine propulsion, a mid-1950s policy decision announced that, instead of developing an all-British submarine, much time and money would be saved
