HMS Vanguard (S28)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Vanguard.

HMS Vanguard at Faslane
Career (United Kingdom)
Name:	HMS Vanguard
Ordered:	30 May 1986
Builder:	Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down:	3 September 1986
Launched:	4 March 1992
Sponsored by:	Diana, Princess of Wales
Commissioned:	14 August 1993
Homeport:	HMNB Clyde, Argyll, Scotland
Status:	In active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class & type:	Vanguard-class submarine
Displacement:	15,900 tonnes, submerged
Length:	149.9 m (491 ft 10 in)
Beam:	12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
Draught:	12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Propulsion:	1 × Rolls-Royce PWR2 nuclear reactor, 2 × GEC turbines; 27,500 shp (20.5 MW) 1 × shaft, pump jet propulsor 2 × auxiliary retractable propulsion motors 2 × Allen turbo generators (6 MW) 2 × Paxman diesel alternators; 2,700 shp (2.0 MW)
Speed:	In excess of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), submerged
Range:	Only limited by food and maintenance requirements.
Complement:	135
Sensors and processing systems:	BAE Systems SMCS Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band navigation radar Thales Underwater Systems Type 2054 composite sonar suite comprising:  Marconi/Ferranti Type 2046 towed array sonar  Type 2043 hull-mounted active and passive search sonar  Type 2082 passive intercept and ranging sonar Pilkington Optronics CK51 search periscope Pilkington Optronics CH91 attack periscope
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Two SSE Mk10 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys RESM Racal UAP passive intercept
Armament:	4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes for: Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes 16 × ballistic missile tubes for: Lockheed Trident II D5 SLBMs with up to 12 MIRVed Holbrook Mk-4A (100 ktTNT) nuclear warheads each

The eleventh HMS Vanguard of the Royal Navy is the lead boat of her class of Trident ballistic missile-armed submarines. The submarine is based at Faslane, HMNB Clyde, Argyll, Scotland.

Vanguard was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd, later BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, was launched on 4 March 1992, and commissioned on 14 August 1993 in the presence of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Operational history

Entry into service

The submarine's first commanding officer was Captain David Russell and the senior engineer officer, during build, was Commander James Grant OBE.

Refit

In February 2002, Vanguard began a two-year refit at HMNB Devonport. The refit was completed in June 2004 and in October 2005, Vanguard completed her return to service trials (Demonstration and Shakedown Operations) with the firing of an unarmed Trident missile. During this refit, Vanguard was boarded by a pair of anti-nuclear protesters who spent half an hour on board before being challenged. They were charged with damaging a fence which they cut to access the submarine.

Collision with Le Triomphant

Main article: HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant submarine collision

On 4 February 2009, Vanguard collided with the French submarine Le Triomphant in the Atlantic. On February 6 the French Ministry of Armed Forces reported that Triomphant had "collided with an immersed object". The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence initially would not comment on the incident, which was however confirmed on February 16 by First Sea Lord Sir Jonathon Band. Vanguard had returned to HMNB Clyde in Scotland under her own power two days prior. Band stated that the collision had occurred at slow speed, and that there had been no injuries. However, both vessels had been damaged. Vanguard received damage to the outer casing in the area of the missile compartment, requiring repairs.

Overhaul and refueling

In January 2012 radiation was detected in the PWR2 test reactor's coolant water, caused by a microscopic breach in fuel cladding. This discovery led to Vanguard being scheduled to be refuelled in its next "deep maintenance period", due to last 3.5 years from 2015, and contingency measures being applied to other Vanguard and Astute-class submarines, at a cost of £270 million. This was not revealed to the public until 2014.

Vanguard eventually returned to active service in July 2022 after spending almost 7 years undergoing refit. On 16 August 2022 Vanguard was rededicated into the Royal Navy in a ceremony held at HMNB Devonport, and on 9 May 2023 she left for sea.

Glued bolts during overhaul

In February 2023, the Royal Navy began investigating claims that broken bolts for the reactor chamber on Vanguard had insufficiently been repaired using glue, during her seven year refit. After the heads of several bolts had been sheared off after being over-tightened, workers for defence firm Babcock had allegedly glued the heads on the bolts back on, rather than completely replacing the bolts. The glued bolts held insulation in place on the coolant pipes for the nuclear reactor, and were found shortly prior to activation of the reactor.

Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, demanded a meeting and “assurances about future work” after The Sun reported on the issue. Babcock is one of the United Kingdom's largest defence contractors, with contracts for the maintenance of both the Royal Navy's Astute-class and Vanguard-class submarine fleets. The shadow defence secretary, John Healey, remarked that "the Defence Secretary must make sure contractors are delivering maintenance to this critical capability safely, on time and on-budget.".

See also

• Letters of last resort
• List of submarines of the Royal Navy
• List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy
• Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom
• Royal Navy Submarine Service
• Submarine-launched ballistic missile
• Trident nuclear programme

External links

• Royal Navy HMS Vanguard (royalnavy.mod.uk)