HMS Turbulent (S87)

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

HMS Turbulent
Career (UK)
Ordered:	28 July 1978
Laid down:	8 May 1980
Launched:	1 December 1982
Commissioned:	28 April 1984
Homeport:	HMNB Devonport, Plymouth
Identification:	Pennant number: S87
Fate:	in active service, as of 2012
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Trafalgar class submarine
Displacement:	4,800 tonnes, surfaced 5,300 tonnes, dived
Length:	85.4 m (280 ft)
Beam:	9.8 m (32 ft)
Draught:	9.5 m (31 ft)
Installed power:	15,000 shp (11 MW)
Propulsion:	1 x Rolls Royce PWR1 nuclear reactor 2 x GEC steam turbines 2 x WH Allen turbo generators; 3.2 MW 2 x Paxman diesel alternators 2,800 shp (2.1 MW) 1 x pump jet propulsor 1 x motor for emergency drive 1 x auxiliary retractable prop
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h) dived
Range:	Unlimited, except by food supplies and maintenance requirements.
Complement:	130 (18 officers)
Sensors and processing systems:	Ferranti/Gresham Dowty DCB/DCG or BAE Systems SMCS data system, Type 2072 hull-mounted flank array passive sonar, Plessey Type 2020 or Marconi/Plessey Type 2074 hull-mounted active and passive search and attack sonar, Ferranti Type 2046 or TUS 2076 towed array passive search sonar, Thomson Sintra Type 2019 PARIS or Thorn EMI 2082 passive intercept and ranging sonar, Marconi Type 2077 short range active classification sonar, Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I band navigation radar, Pilkington Optronics CK34 search periscope, Pilkington Optronics CH84/CM010 attack periscope
Electronic warfare and decoys:	2 × SSE Mk8 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys RESM Racal UAP passive intercept CESM Outfit CXA SAWCS decoys carried from 2002
Armament:	5 x 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 30 weapons; Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles Spearfish wire-guided heavyweight torpedoes

HMS Turbulent is a Trafalgar-class submarine of the Royal Navy built by Vickers Shipbuilding, Barrow-in-Furness.

Turbulent was scheduled to be decommissioned at the end of 2011, but remains active as of January, 2012.

Operational history

Turbulent went through her modernisation and first nuclear refuel in 1997. Her home port is HMNB Devonport. On 16 April 2003 HMS Turbulent was the first Royal Navy vessel to return home from the war against Iraq. She arrived in Plymouth flying the Jolly Roger after launching thirty Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Turbulent left Devonport in February 2011 for a ten month deployment, her final before decommissioning. The deployment saw her operating in the Gulf of Sidra relieving HMS Triumph as part of the British contribution to the Libya intervention. She was then herself relieved by Triumph, before heading through the Suez Canal in June to take up patrol in the Indian Ocean. The boat called into the port of Fujairah, where she rendezvoused with the support ship RFA Diligence.

The current captain of the submarine is Commander Nick Wheeler, who took command in December 2011.

In the media

Turbulent was featured in a 2011 episode of Heston Blumenthal's Heston's Mission Impossible. Its food menu was changed from typical, home-cooked "heavy" food to a lighter, healthier menu employing the sous-vide method which also provides benefits in space-saving and freshness. The episode was partially filmed at the shore establishment HMS Raleigh.

The submarine was the primary feature of a documentary called 'Submarine Mission' on Channel 5 during her 2011 deployment.

Fiction

In the anime show Full Metal Panic!, the character Richard Mardukas previously captained HMS Turbulent.^{[citation needed]}

References

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, by Robert Hutchinson

External links

• HMS Turbulent
• MaritimeQuest HMS Turbulent S-87 pages
• HMS Turbulent Completes Upgrades