HMS Trafalgar (S107)
 HMS Trafalgar, pictured during Tomahawk missile trials |
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| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 7 April 1977 |
| Builder: | Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd |
| Laid down: | 15 April 1979 |
| Launched: | 1 July 1981 |
| Commissioned: | 27 May 1983 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 December 2009 |
| Homeport: | HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |
| Fate: | Awaiting Disposal |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Trafalgar-class submarine |
| Displacement: | Surfaced: 4,740 tons Dived: 5,208 tons |
| Length: | 280.1 ft (85.4 m) |
| Beam: | 32.1 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draught: | 31.2 ft (9.5 m) |
| Installed power: | 15,000 shp (11 MW) |
| Propulsion: |
Single Rolls Royce PWR1 nuclear reactor driving
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| Speed: | Dived: 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Complement: | 18 officers 112 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
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| Armament: |
Current weapons: Decommissioned weapons:
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| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Operations: | Operation Veritas (Afghanistan) |
HMS Trafalgar is a decommissioned Trafalgar-class submarine of the Royal Navy. Unlike the rest of the Trafalgar-class boats that followed, she was not launched with a pump jet propulsion system, but with a conventional 7-bladed propeller. [2] Trafalgar was the fifth vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, after the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.
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[edit] Operational history
[edit] Combat history
After Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Trafalgar entered Plymouth Sound flying the Jolly Roger on 1 March 2002. She was welcomed back by Admiral Sir Alan West, Commander-in-Chief of the fleet and it emerged she was the first Royal Navy submarine to launch tomahawk cruise missiles against Afghanistan.[3]
[edit] Grounding incidents
In July 1996, Trafalgar grounded near the Isle of Skye in Scotland.[4]
In November 2002, Trafalgar again ran aground close to the Isle of Skye, causing £5 million worth of damage to her hull and injuring three sailors. She was travelling 50 metres below the surface at more than 14 knots when Lieutenant-Commander Tim Green, a student in the "Perisher" course for new submarine commanders, ordered a course change that took her onto the rocks at Fladda-chuain, a small but well-charted islet. Commander Robert Fancy, responsible for navigation, and Commander Ian McGhie, an instructor, both pleaded guilty at court-martial to contributing to the accident. On 9 March 2004 the court reprimanded both for negligence. Green was not prosecuted, but received an administrative censure.[5]
In May 2008 it was reported that the crash was caused by the chart being used in the exercise being covered with tracing paper, to prevent students marking it.[6]
[edit] In fiction
Trafalgar is featured in the novel Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, in which the submarine is sunk by a Soviet mine.
[edit] Decommissioning
Trafalgar was decommissioned on 4 December 2009 at Devonport.[7]
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Trafalgar preparing to depart from berth 38 Southampton Docks 10 December 2008.
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Trafalgar departing from berth 38 Southampton Docks 10 December 2008.
[edit] References
- ^ Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004-2005. Jane's Information Group Limited. p. 796. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
- ^ Graham, Ian, Attack Submarine, Gloucester Publishing, Oct 1989, page 12. ISBN 978-0531171561
- ^ Trafalgar Returns
- ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101102/text/101102w0001.htm#10110298000032
- ^ Daily Record
- ^ Guardian report
- ^ BBC News Submarine's final sailing to base
[edit] External links
- Royal Navy official site
- MaritimeQuest HMS Trafalgar pages
- Pictures of Trafalgar's final voyage, BBC
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