Royal Navy Submarine Service

The Royal Navy Submarine Service is the collective name given to the submarine element of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the "Silent Service", on account of a submarine being required to operate quietly in order to remain undetected by enemy SONAR (or ASDIC as it was known in the RN pre-1948). The service currently consists of nine Fleet submarines (SSNs), of the Swiftsure and Trafalgar class, and four ballistic missile submarines(SSBN), of the Vanguard class. It also operates the LR5 Submarine Rescue System ROV.

All of the Royal Navy's current submarines (with the exception of the LR5, which is strictly speaking a submersible rather than a submarine) are nuclear powered.

History

HMS Holland 1, the first-ever submarine to be commissioned by the Royal Navy. She can still be seen at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport.

The "Dolphins" badge, issued to all British submariners on completion of training. It is worn on the upper left breast, just above any medal ribbons.

The United Kingdom was the last major maritime power not to use submarines at the beginning of the 20th century, as the idea of submarine warfare was considered by many senior personnel in the Admiralty to be "Underhand, under water and damned un-English" (Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson VC, 1901). However, those in favour of experimenting with submarine technology eventually won the argument, and the Royal Navy launched its first submarine, Holland 1, in 1901.

The Submarine Service proved its worth in World War I, where it won five of the Royal Navy's 14 Victoria Crosses of the war.

The Jolly Roger

Main article: Jolly Roger

Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson VC, the Controller of the Royal Navy, summed up the opinion of the many in the Admiralty at the time when he said in 1901 "Submarines are underhand, unfair and damned un-English. The crews of all submarines captured should be treated as pirates and hanged". In response Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral Sir) Max Horton first flew the Jolly Roger on return to port after sinking the German cruiser SMS Hela and the destroyer SMS S-116 in 1914. During World War I, the submarine service came of age winning five of the Royal Navy's fourteen Victoria Crosses. The first by Lieutenant Norman Holbrook, Commanding Officer of HMS B11. In World War II it became common practice for the submarines of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy to fly the Jolly Roger on completion of a successful combat mission where some action had taken place, but as an indicator of bravado and stealth rather than of lawlessness. The Jolly Roger is now the emblem of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.

HMS Conqueror (S48) flying a Jolly Roger on returning to Faslane having sunk ARA General Belgrano.

The Jolly Roger was brought to the attention of a post World War II public when HMS Conqueror flew the Jolly Roger on her return from the Falklands War having sunk ARA General Belgrano. In May 1991 Oberon class submarines HMS Opossum and her sister HMS Otus returned to the submarine base HMS Dolphin in Gosport from patrol in the Persian Gulf flying Jolly Rogers, the only indication that they had been involved in alleged SAS and SBS reconnaissance operations. In 1999 HMS Splendid participated in the Kosovo Conflict and became the first Royal Navy submarine to fire a cruise missile in anger. On her return to Faslane, on July 9 1999, Splendid flew the Jolly Roger.

After Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, HMS Trafalgar entered Plymouth Sound flying the Jolly Roger on March 1 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,. HMS Triumph was also involved in the initial strikes and on returning to port had a Jolly Roger that was emblazoned with two crossed Tomahawks to indicate her opening missiles salvoes in the "war against terrorism" and HMS Superb's whose flag had a dagger, for force protection, a bee for her nickname (the Super B), and two communications flashes.

More recently, on April 16, 2003, HMS Turbulent, the first Royal Navy vessel to return home from the war against Iraq, arrived in Plymouth flying the Jolly Roger after launching fourteen Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The Perisher

The Perisher is a 24 week submarine command course all officers must take prior to serving as an Executive Officer on board a Royal Navy Submarine. It has been run twice a year since 1917, usually starting on 02 July and 14 November each year. It is widely regarded as one of the toughest command courses in the world, with an historical failure rate of 25%.

If at any point during the training a candidate is withdrawn from training he will be nominated for boat transfer and kept occupied until the transfer. His bag is packed for him and he is notified of the failure when the boat arrives. On departure he is presented with a bottle of whisky. A failure on Perisher means that the candidate will not return to the Submarine Service.

Traditions

The Submarine Service has many traditions that are not found in the surface fleet. These include slang unique to submariners (such as referring to the weapons storage department as the Bomb Shop and the engine room as the Donk Shop), a special communications code known as the Dolphin Code and the entitlement of a sailor to wear Dolphins upon entering the service.

Active submarines

Fleet submarines

As of 2006, the Submarine Service consists of two classes of Fleet (sometimes known as attack or Hunter-Killer) submarines - the Swiftsure class submarine and the Trafalgar class submarine. Since they are all nuclear submarines, they are classified as SSNs.

Ballistic submarines

Main article: Vanguard class submarine

File:Vanguard class image.jpg

HMS Vanguard (S28), a nuclear ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy and the lead ship of the current Vanguard class.

The four ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) of the Royal Navy are all of the Vanguard class. They are: HMS Vanguard (S28), HMS Victorious (S29), HMS Vigilant (S30), and HMS Vengeance (S31). They were all built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd, now BAE Systems Submarines. The SSBN flotilla or bomber 'fleet' fleet tends to be almost a separate entity, for example it rarely uses pennant numbers preferring to use hull numbers, thus Vanguard 05, Victorious 06, Vigilant 07 and Vengeance 08.

The four Vanguard class boats are responsible for the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent, and use the Trident missile system. Each boat is capable of carrying up to 16 Trident II D5 Missiles and each may carry up to 12 warheads giving a quite formidable potential. It is UK Government policy to limit that number to a total of 28 warheads per boat.

Impressively there has been an SSBN on patrol continuously for over 30 years, representing over 300 missions.

LR5 Submarine Rescue System

The Royal Navy also operates the LR5 Submarine Rescue System, designed for retrieving sailors from stranded submarines. It is capable of rescuing 16 at a time.

Future submarines

The Royal Navy is to receive at least four new Astute class submarines, boats being delivered in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 - 3 or 4 more are planned. The Swiftsure-class will be entirely decommissioned by 2010. HMS Trafalgar is to be decommissioned in 2008, followed by HMS Turbulent in 2011. The Astute Class submarine will be the biggest nuclear Fleet submarine ever to have been in service with the Royal Navy, nearly 30% larger than its predecessors. This is due to the powerplant, the Rolls Royce PWR2 reactor (developed for the Vanguard class SSBN). The armament of Astute class is set to be 38 Spearfish torpedos (the British equivalent of the US Mk48 ADCAP torpedos), Tomahawk Block III/IV Cruise Missiles and submarine launched mines.

It is unclear whether more Astute class submarines will be ordered. Another development project is the Maritime Underwater Future Capability (MUFC). These will follow on from the Astute class and possibly replace the Trafalgar class. Reports (e.g. in Defense News) have suggested that the MUFC studies may result in a single class of multi-role submarines to replace the Trafalgar class, Vanguard class SSBNs and eventually the Astute class. This would require a submarine capable of launching conventional land attack missiles, some form of nuclear missile (ICBM or tactical nuclear missile) as well as conventional submarine munitions including mines and torpedoes.

See also

• Submarine
• Royal Navy
• List of Royal Navy submarines
• Jolly Roger

Further reading

• Submarine Service official webpage