HMS ''Vigilant'' is the third 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 ...
.
''Vigilant'' carries the
Trident ballistic missile, the United Kingdom's
nuclear deterrent
Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons.
As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In addit ...
.
Construction
''Vigilant'' 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 (now
BAE Systems Submarine Solutions), was
launched in October 1995, and
commissioned in November 1996.
Letter of last resort
Peter Hennessy visited ''Vigilant'' for the ''
Today programme'' on BBC Radio 4 in 2007. He reported that there is a grey safe in the control room that has an inner safe that only the commanding officer and executive officer can open. In that safe is a letter from the current
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
, the
letter of last resort, which contains guidance and orders to be followed should the United Kingdom be attacked with nuclear weapons. This letter is identical to the other three letters in similar safes on the other three ''Vanguard''-class submarines carrying the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent.
Operational history
In 2002, protestors from
Trident Ploughshares breached security at
Faslane Naval Base
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 ...
where the ''Vanguard''-class submarines are based. Two protestors managed to spray paint ''Vigilant'' with the
CND symbol and the word "Vile".
''Vigilant'' arrived at Devonport on 11 October 2008 for a major refit. ''Vigilant'' returned to the fleet on 27 March 2012 after her £300m refit. In 2013, she test fired her main weapon, a firing of the Trident D5 after three years. ''Vigilant'' returned from a patrol on 23 December 2016 before Christmas.
In October 2017, it was revealed that the vessel's captain had been relieved of his command following allegations of an "inappropriate relationship" with a female crew member. Along with the captain, his executive officer was also removed from his post amid allegations of an improper relationship with a different female crew member. Later that month, it was reported that nine crew members had been dismissed for using cocaine.
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
*
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
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigilant (S30)
Vanguard-class submarines
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1995 ships
Submarines of the United Kingdom