HMS Sovereign (S108)
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HMS ''Sovereign'' was a nuclear-powered fleet
submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
of the
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.


Construction

Construction of the boat began on 18 September 1970. She was launched on 17 February 1973 and commissioned on 11 July 1974.


Operational history

In 1976, ''Sovereign'' played a role in Operation Brisk; the submarine surfaced at the geographical
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on 20 October 1976 as part of the exercise, testing navigational systems and equipment performance in low temperatures. HMS ''Sovereign'' actually surfaced on 21 October 1976 about halfway between the Geographic North Pole and the northern tip of
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. Brisk was a coordinated operation between the Royal Navy and the
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Maritime Proving & Evaluation Unit (MP&EU) from CFB Summerside, Prince Edward Island. MP&EU was in a six-year project of evaluating airborne
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devices including a SLAR, ILRS and a Laser Profilometer which were all used to do imaging during ''Sovereign''s through-ice surfacing. In September 1978, ''Sovereign'' engaged in Operation Agile Eagle, with the mission of locating and tracking a Soviet
Delta-class submarine The Delta class, (Russian language, Russian: Дельта) List of ships of Russia by project number, Soviet designations Project 667B ''Murena'', Project 667BD ''Murena-M'', Project 667BDR ''Kalmar'', Project 667BDRM ''Delfin'', (List of NATO ...
believed to be operating in the Eastern
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. ''Sovereign'' acquired the Delta-class submarine on October 6, 1978 and remained in contact undetected for 49 days. ''Sovereign'' underwent an extensive refit in the mid-1990s and was rededicated in January 1997. Cracks were discovered in the tailshaft during post-refit sea trials and she was sent to
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for 14 weeks of emergency repairs in June 1998 before returning to
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. ''Sovereign'' was used for the "Perisher"
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in June 1999 as well as other training cruises. She was part of the
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Linked Seas in May 2000, operating in the
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. In the early 2000s, ''Sovereign'' was out of service for some time due to reactor problems, a fault she shared in common with others of her class. Although she was back in full service by July 2005, the submarine was decommissioned as of September 2006.


References

Swiftsure-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1973 ships {{UK-mil-submarine-stub