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After the Second World War the advent of the nuclear age, ushered
in at Hiroshima, brought about a quantum leap in both the size
and power of some weapons of war and their destructive capability.
Nuclear power facilitated the development of the true submarine,
a vessel able to stay underwater permanently, limited only by
the endurance of its crew. In turn, with the development of inter-continental
ballistic missiles, the submarine became the most important element
in the armouries of all the major powers and the keystone of national
strategic policy.
The world's first nuclear-powered submarine was the American
Nautilus, launched on 21 January 1954. Anxious to preserve
Britain's position as a leading sea power, the Royal Navy established
its own nuclear capability when Dreadnought was launched
on 21 October 1960, powered by a US reactor. Five similar boats
of the Valiant class, the first entirely British nuclear submarine,
entered service between July 1966 and October 1971, including
Conqueror, which sank the General Belgrano during
the Falklands Conflict in 1982. The faster, quieter and deeper
diving Swiftsure class, a marked advance over its excellent predecessors,
was introduced from 1973. Eight years later, Dreadnought
was taken out of service. The Valiants were all withdrawn by 1994.
In 2001, five Swiftsure boats and seven of the most modern Trafalgar
class, first commissioned in May 1983, made up the Royal Navy's
fleet submarine complement. All of these nuclear-powered hunter/killer
submarines possess high underwater speed and excellent sonar capability.
Armed with torpedoes, anti-ship and long range tactical land attack
missiles, their main roles are to support the surface fleet and
monitor and, if necessary, destroy enemy submarines. They also
have the capacity to undertake close surveillance and beach reconnaissance
work and to influence land operations by the deployment of their
Cruise missiles. The characteristics of stealth, flexibility and
endurance which these submarines possess allow them to operate
freely anywhere in the world's oceans.
Polaris, the intercontinental ballistic missile constructed to
equip nuclear submarines, was test-fired successfully for the
first time in April 1956. Britain acquired Polaris technology
from America under an agreement reached in December 1962, enabling
it to build its own warheads under its own national control. By
1968, after a period of intensive development, the United Kingdom's
independent nuclear deterrent was ready. The first of four ballistic
missile-carrying submarines, Resolution, was launched on
15 September 1966 and sailed on its first deterrent patrol in
June 1968. On 30 June 1969, responsibility for Britain's strategic
nuclear deterrent passed from the Royal Air Force to the Royal
Navy and remains with it to this day. Since that time a continuous
series of patrols has maintained the country's nuclear defence.
Polaris boats, helped by a mid-life missile upgrade through the
Chevaline programme first deployed aboard Renown in summer
1982, carried out the task until August 1996, when Repulse
was decommissioned. The role then passed to the four new Vanguard
class submarines equipped with Trident D5 missiles which have
a range of over 4,000 nautical miles. The most modern strategic
nuclear missile submarines in the world, they are expected to
be in service for at least the next twenty years.
See Images 19 and 20 in the Image
Gallery.
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