HMS ''Vengeance'' is the fourth and final of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
.
''Vengeance'' carries the
Trident ballistic missile, the
UK's nuclear deterrent.
''Vengeance'' was built at
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...
by
Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd
Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL) was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, England that built warships, civilian ships, submarines and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Construction Works of Vicke ...
, later
BAE Systems Submarine Solutions
BAE Systems Submarines,BAE Systems Submarine Solutions was split out from BAE Systems Marine and operated as such until January 2012. It was named BAE Systems Maritime - Submarines until 2017 before it became BAE Systems Submarines. is a whol ...
, was
launched in September 1998, and
commissioned in November 1999.
Before she was commissioned, the British Government stated that once the ''Vanguard'' submarines became fully operational, they would only carry 200 warheads.
''Vengeance'' carries unopened "last instructions" (
letters of last resort) of the current
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
that are to be used in the event of a national catastrophe or a
nuclear strike; this letter is identical to the letters carried on board the other three submarines of the ''Vanguard'' class.
Operational history
On 31 March 2011, while on a training exercise, ''Vengeance'' suffered a blockage in her
propulsor {{short description, Mechanical device to propel a vessel
A propulsor is a mechanical device that gives propulsion. The word is commonly used in the marine vernacular, and implies a mechanical assembly that is more complicated than a propeller. The ...
causing a reduction in propulsion. The boat returned to
Faslane
His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
naval base on the surface under her own power. According to the
MOD the problems were not nuclear related.
In 2012, ''Vengeance'' started a 40-month refit at
HMNB Devonport
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...
near
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
which refueled her reactor and renewed her machinery and electronics. During that period her sister ship ''Vigilant'' took her place in the patrol rotations. She sailed from Devonport on 4 December 2015, her place in refit being taken by ''Vanguard''. ''Vengeance'' then went through trials from January 2016 to June 2016 and fired an unarmed
D5 missile during her
Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) which allowed her to return to the fleet. Whilst the firing of the missile was a success, the missile itself suffered a failure during flight and the test was terminated.
In March 2024, ''Vengeance'' completed a 201-day deployment, the second-longest submarine deployment in the Royal Navy's history.
Affiliations
*
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)
*
Worshipful Company of Salters
*
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...
See also
*
List of submarines of the Royal Navy
*
List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy
This is a list of submarine classes of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. Dates of construction given.
Petrol-electric
Diesel-electric
* D class — 8 boats, 1908–1912
* E class — 58 boats, 1912–1916
* F class — 3 boats, 191 ...
*
Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom
In 1952, the United Kingdom became the third country (after the Nuclear weapons of the United States, United States and the Soviet atomic bomb project, Soviet Union) to develop and test nuclear weapons, and is one of the List of states with nu ...
*
Royal Navy Submarine Service
The Royal Navy Submarine Service is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the Silent Service, as submarines are generally required to operate undetected.
The service operates six fleet submarines ( SSNs), ...
*
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which ...
*
Trident nuclear programme
Trident, also known as the Trident nuclear programme or Trident nuclear deterrent, covers the development, procurement and operation of nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom and their means of delivery. Its purpose as stated by the Ministry of ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vengeance (S31)
Vanguard-class submarines
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1998 ships
Submarines of the United Kingdom