HMS Torbay (S90)
 HMS Torbay rounding Calshot Spit, Southampton in November 2010.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Torbay |
| Builder | Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down | 3 December 1982 |
| Launched | 8 March 1985 |
| Sponsored by | Lady Ann Herbert |
| Commissioned | 7 February 1987 |
| Homeport | HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |
| Fate | in active service |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Trafalgar class submarine |
| Displacement | 5,300 tonnes, submerged |
| Length | 85.4 m (280 ft) |
| Beam | 9.8 m (32 ft) |
| Draught | 9.5 m (31 ft) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | Up to 32 knots (59 km/h), submerged |
| Range | Only limited by food and maintenance requirements. |
| Complement | 130 |
| Electronic warfare & decoys |
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| Armament | |
HMS Torbay is a Trafalgar-class nuclear submarine of the Royal Navy and the fourth vessel of her class. Torbay is the fifth vessel and the second submarine of the Royal Navy to be named after Torbay in Devon, England. The first vessel was the 80-gun second rate HMS Torbay launched in 1693.
Torbay was the first vessel to be fitted with the new command system SMCS-NG and therefore the first British warship to be controlled using the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Torbay is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2015 and will be replaced by one of the new Astute class submarines.[3] As of November 2013[update] she is still undergoing extended maintenance and upgrades, which were originally scheduled to complete in Summer 2013. The work may allow a life extension beyond the current decommissioning date.
Operational history
Torbay completed a refuel and modernisation process in February 2001.[citation needed]
In early 2006, Torbay was the participant in an experiment in the use of colour schemes to reduce the visibility of submarines from the air. The standard black paint of Royal Navy submarines was replaced by a carefully selected shade of blue. This was the result of research that found that black was the worst possible colour for a submarine attempting to avoid detection from the air. This change is in part the result of the changing nature of Royal Navy commitments since the end of the Cold War, with Navy operations moving from the murky waters of the North Atlantic to the clearer waters of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.[4]
In November 2010, it was reported in Hansard that Torbay had run aground in the Eastern Mediterranean in April 2009.[5]
In May 2011, she took part in Exercise Saxon Warrior in the Western Approaches. The exercise included the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, HMS Dauntless, HMS Westminster and a number of other vessels and culminated in a 'Thursday War'.[6]
In late 2011 she entered a Revalidation and Assisted Maintenance Period (RAMP) at Devonport Royal Dockyard. This includes communications upgrades with installation of the Cromwell radio antenna to enhance internal communications and the ship alongside upgrade, plus inspection of the hull and reactor, an overhaul of one of the reactor coolers and upgrades to many other systems. As of September 2012[update] the RAMP was 85% complete, with a return to service originally planned for summer 2013.[7]
In 2013, there was a fire on board.[8]
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In fiction
HMS Torbay is featured in Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising, which saw the submarine engage and sink a Soviet Alfa-class submarine with Spearfish torpedoes.[citation needed]
References
- Notes
- ^ All boats have a pump jet propulsor with the exception of Trafalgar which was fitted with a 7-bladed conventional propeller.[2]
- References
- ^ http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Fleet/Submarines/Fleet-Submarines/Trafalgar-Class
- ^ Graham, Ian, Attack Submarine, Gloucester Publishing, Oct 1989, page 12. ISBN 978-0-531-17156-1
- ^ Hansard HL Deb 14 March 2005 vol 670 c116WA quoted in House of Commons Defence Committee - Fourth Report, 12 Dec 2006
- ^ British Subs Debunk Conventional Fashion: Is Blue the New Black?, Defense Industry Daily, 3 April 2006, retrieved 2010-11-03
- ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101102/text/101102w0001.htm#10110298000032
- ^ http://www.navynews.co.uk/news/1200-torbay-targets-worlds-most-powerful-carrier.aspx
- ^ "HMS Torbay achieves major milestone in RAMP programme". naval-technology.com. 21 September 2012.
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22302965
- Bibliography
- Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, by Robert Hutchinson
External links
- Royal Navy HMS Torbay (royalnavy.mod.uk)
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