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HMS Churchill (S46)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Churchill.

HMS Churchill at sea
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Churchill
NamesakeWinston Churchill
Ordered21 October 1965
Laid down30 June 1967
Launched20 December 1968
Commissioned15 July 1970
Decommissioned28 February 1991
FateAwaiting disposal
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeChurchill-class submarine
Displacement4,900 tonnes (4,823 long tons) submerged
Length86.9 m (285 ft 1 in)
Beam10.1 m (33 ft 2 in)
Draught8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
Propulsion1 Rolls-Royce PWR nuclear reactor, 1 shaft
Speed28 knots (32 mph; 52 km/h) submerged
Complement103
Armament

HMS Churchill was the first of three Churchill-class[a] nuclear fleet submarines that served with the Royal Navy.

Construction

In 1965, following a decision by the Labour government not to build a fifth Resolution class ballistic missile submarine, production of nuclear-powered fleet submarines, which had been postponed owing to the priority given to the Polaris programme, could be restarted.[1] Churchill, the Royal Navy's fourth nuclear-powered fleet submarine was ordered on 21 October 1965, and was laid down at Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL)'s Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 30 June 1967.[3] Following a collision between sister submarine Warspite and a Soviet Echo II-class submarine in the Barents Sea on 9 October 1968, the fin of Churchill, still under construction at Barrow, was used to replace Warspite's fin, which had been badly damaged in the collision.[5][6] Churchill was launched by Mary Soames, Winston Churchill's youngest daughter, on 20 December 1968,[7] and commissioned on 15 July 1970.[3]

Propulsion

Churchill was chosen to trial the first full-size submarine pump jet propulsion. Trials of a high-speed unit were followed by further trials with a low-speed unit, and these were successful enough for the same propulsion to be fitted in the rest of the class.[8] Later British submarine classes also featured the pump jet, although first-of-class vessels Swiftsure and Trafalgar were fitted with propellers at build.

Notes

  1. ^ Some sources call Churchill a "Repeat Valiant",[1][2] while others treat Churchill as a member of the five-submarine Valiant class.[3][4]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Hennessey & Jinks 2016, p. 291.
  2. ^ Friedman 2021, Chapter 7: Going Nuclear "SSN 04 and SSN 05 were described as the Repeat Valiant Class (NSR 7064)."
  3. ^ a b c Blackman 1971, p. 336.
  4. ^ Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 530.
  5. ^ Ballantyne 2014, p. 134.
  6. ^ Hennessey & Jinks 2016, pp. 310–313.
  7. ^ Gingeill, Basil (21 December 1968). "Tradition broken by Navy". The Times. No. 57440. p. 1.
  8. ^ Bud, Robert; Gummett, Philip (2002). Cold war, hot science: applied research in Britain's defence laboratories, 1945-1990. NMSI Trading Ltd. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-900747-47-9.

References

  • Ballantyne, Iain (2014). Hunter Killers: The Dramatic Untold Story of the Royal Navy's Most Secret Service. London: Orion. ISBN 978-1-4091-3901-0.
  • Blackman, Raymond V. B., ed. (1971). Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
  • Friedman, Norman (2021). British Submarines in the Cold War Era. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-7123-0.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen, eds. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, US: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  • Hennessey, Peter; Jinks, James (2016). The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-241-95948-0.
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