HMS Valiant (S102), Warspite (S103), Churchill (S46), Conqueror (S48), Courageous (S50) in service until 1990-96
Cold War British Submersibles:
T class streamlined | Amphion class | Explorer class | X51 class | Porpoise class | Oberon class | Upholder classHMS Dreadnought | Valiant class | Churchill class | Swiftsure class | Trafalgar class | Resolution class | Vanguard class
The Valiant class were five nuclear powered British Royal Navy submarines. They were built for the first two at (a) Vickers Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness in 1960-65 and for the sub-class Churchill, same to the exception of HMS Conqueror (of Belgrano sinking fame) at Cammell Laird in 1967-71. The latter were ordered in 1965-67 but considerably upgraded and considered a separate class in some sources. However they shared the same hull and apart internal arrangements were very much the same so all five are seen here. The Valiant class was also instrumental in shaping the first generation british SSBNs as the Resolution class were based on their design, but stretched. HMS Dreadnought opened the ball for British nuclear attack submarines, but yet she was given an American S3W reactor while work was ongoing at Dounreay for a British plant. When installed on the new, stretched Valiant design, they became the first fully British nuclear fleet submarine, in service until the 1990s, and the prime underwater attack force of the Royal navy for most of the cold war. They were later reinforced by the six Swiftsure and seven Trafalgar classes, for a total of 19 SSNs making UK the leading submarine force of Europe in the 1980s. #royalnavy #coldwar #hmsvaliant #nuclearattacksubmarine
Warspite, Conqueror and Valiant
Development
The Valiant was developed from HMS Dreadnought, a trailblazer for the British nuclear powered submarine force. From the beginning it was looked for a replacement of the American Westinghouse S5W reactor, which was compact, but there was a development at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and Admiralty Research Station HMS Vulcan in Dounreay. They were working on a completely new British nuclear propulsion system. This was successfully tested in 1960 and thus by 31 August 1960 was ordered the UK’s second nuclear-powered submarine from Vickers Armstrong, fitted with the new Rolls-Royce’s PWR1 nuclear plant. This new class was named Valiant to follow the new British tradition of naming submarines after former capial ships which names were a bit forgotten since the end of WW2. “Valiant”, from one of the former Queen Elizabeth class super-dreadnoughts class seems appropriate for the first all-British nuclear submarine. She was followed by more orders the next years, and what else than “Warspite” for her sister ship, first pair.
Since the new RR powerplant PWR1 (For “Pressurized Water Reactor, 1”) was larger than the S5W, the original Dreadnought hull nedeed to be stretched out, by 20 feet (6 m). This imposed a larger displacement at 4,900 tons compared to 4,000 tons for the earlier Dreadnought. Improvements were made across the board concerning silencing of all moving parts on board. The powerplant was indeed already made originally to run quickly and the assembly doubled down by having a new raft system to eliminate any liaison between the pressure hull and the machinery. The Valiant class as a consequence ended significantly quieter than Dreadnought.
There was a Paxman diesel-electric generator usable for silent running as well, but all the rest was very much a repeat of the previous design, notably all accomodations, armaments, sonars and radars. This “cut, stretch, plugin” approach enabed to spare a considerable time in design. Thus detailed plans were prepared by Vickers and accepted in December 1961, with the first section (there is no keel on a modern SSN) was symbolically laid down at Vickers on 21 January the next year.
The construction master was Vickers Ltd, Shipbuilding Group, and Engineering Group, both in Barrow-in-Furness as well as Rolls-Royce and Associates Ltd for the delivery of the reactors and their installation.
Evaluation
HMS Warspite entering Gibraltar Feb 1970
According to former head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors R.J. Daniel, US Admiral Hyman G. Rickover when learning of the proposed rafting design for the Valiant class, was initially dismissive until many eyears after when it was apparent no US submarine was able any Royal Navy SSN in joint exercises. The RN thus gained the world lead with in its technique of acoustically isolating the machinery from the hull through a padding known as “rafts”. Details of which are still classified and had been refined over the years. This was a curcial advantage in submarine silencing that the United States Navy did not introduce until the Los Angeles class.
The Valiants thus were used for anti-submarine role, basocally hunter killers for noisy Soviet SSNs in most of the Cold War. In 1967, HMS Valiant alsoestablished a Royal Navy record with a 12,000 miles (19,312 km) submerged cruise over 28 days, almost a month underwater, while sialing from Singapore to the UK. Undetected all along. The Valiant class like the Churchill sub-class boats all received numerous refits to stay relevant and notably the use sub-Harpoon. Some of them famously served in the Falklands War in 1982. It was prehaps ironically fitting that a WW2 cruiser (Belgrano was a former Brooklyn class) was sunk by a WW2 torpedo…
Design of the class
Hull and general design
So, the Valiant class design was rated for 4,400 long tons (4,500 t) surfaced and 4,900 long tons (5,000 t) submerged versus 3,500 tons surfaced (3,556 tonnes) and 4,000 tons submerged (4,064 tonnes) on Churchill.
She measured 285 ft (87 m) for a Beam of 33 ft 3 in (10.13 m) and a draught of 27 ft (8.2 m). She was thus 6 meters longer tha Dreadnought at 265.7 ft (81 m), but also, wider since Dreanought’s beam was 31.2 ft (9.5 m). Draught was also superior, Dreadnought being 25.9 ft (7.9 m).
The hull share was however remakably close, with the same fin essentially, albeit lenghtened a bit to accomodate one more mast. The nose was not very peculiar, mostly rounded with clean lines down to aft of the sail where the upper mail line of buried water scoops of the external hull made a slight hump. Buy it was well blended overall. The lines were also very clean down to the tail and single propeller, + tail with the same shape, size and systems as for HMS Dreanought. There were also sill two dive planes on the nose, held vertically when surfaced. Eaxtra care was taken with the water intakes to avoid bubbling, as well as for the torpedo tubes doors with a sas system
Powerplant
The beating heart of the project was its Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor (PWR-1), first British naval reactor with a British designed and built a core and reactor assembly, which first went critical in 1965, 4 years beyond schedule. That’s why it was not ready as planned for HMS Dreadnought. US-UK Technology transfers under MDAP howeve provided enough elements for Rolls-Royce to entirely self-sufficient after a government agreement regarding submarine design and quietening techniques. It used highly enriched uranium (HEU) between 93% and 97%. The core life was about 10 years in between so it was refueled twice during any SSN career. The PWR-1 Core A was common to Valiant and Warspite as well as the Resolution class SSBNs. The later Churchill class had the Core B. They were the only one. The next Swiftsure class had the “Core Z” as the Trafalgar class with greater power and life.
RR Marine Power Operations was at Derby for design and manufacture whereas the MoD Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) at Dounreay tested the finished product before installation.
As in the HMS Dreadnought however conventional Laurence-Scott electric motors. In addition there was a 112-cell battery providing emergency power, with a Paxman diesel generator in a diesel electric arrangement. If the core was to be scrambled, shutdown, this system would take over and provide enough power to surface and proceed back to port.
Thanks to this core passed on to two rafted General Electric steam turbines, the Valiant class could reach 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) surfaced and 29 knots (33 mph; 54 km/h) submerged, better than for HMS Dreadnought (20/28 kts). Silencing techniques for the rafts were pushed to the absolute limit of what was possible at the time, and improved further the noise level reduction compared Dreadnought, which gave Britain a comfortable advance over all submarines worldwide. The initial concept was tested on the Oberons and just perfected over a decade, but the reactor deal meant these technologies were shared with the US, helping to improve the latter batches of the Sturgeon class and Los Angeles class.
Autonomy and range were unlimited, and thse subs were reputed cruising underwater for a month, enabling them to reach any point of the globe completely undetected. The crew of 10
Armament
Torpedo Armament
This was the same armament as Dreadnought same stock of 32 torpedoes, notably the Mark 8 and Tigerfish. I added the Mark XXC and XXIII for reference as they could be optionally used.
By 1982, they combined the Mark 8 and Tigerfish but lacked the Harpoon apparently.
Mark VIII mod 4 Torpedo:
The good old burner cycle torpedo, entering service in 1927. A stable of sub operations in WW2, they were still in service with large stockpiles postwar. They however has a straight course with classic settings, nothing revolutionary but were available in quantities and could be used on less important targets when in patrol. The Mod 4 was an evolution of WW2. It’s one of these that was famously fired by HMS Conqueror to sink the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano.
⚙ specifications Mark VIII mod 4:
Weight: 3,452 lbs. (1,566 kg)
Dimensions: 259 in (6.579 m)
Propulsion: Burner-cycle
Range/speed setting: 5,000 yards (4,570 m)/45.5 knots or 7,000 yards (6,400 m)/41 knots
Warhead: 805 lbs. (365 kg) Torpex
Guidance: Straight, initial setting
Mark 20C Torpedo:
An improvement of the Mark 20S Torpedo, first British passive homing torpedo entering service in 1955. The Mark 20C was developed in the early 1960s, susperseded by the Tigerfish in the 1980s.
They were “short” torpedoes and used notably in the Oberon’s rear tubes.
⚙ specifications Mark 20C:
Weight 1,810 lbs. (821 kg)
Dimensions: 254.5 in (6.464 m)
Propulsion: Battery
Range/speed setting: 7,000 yards (6,600 m)/23 knots
Warhead: 196 lbs. (89 kg)
Guidance: Homing, active/passive
Mark 23 Grog:
A wire-guided version of the Mark 20 with dual-speed mode, tested from 1955 and worked on further after “Mackle” project was cancelled in 1956. The first were delivered in 1959 but it entered service in 1966, and considered already obsolescent, not operational until 1971. But they were never popular as thir control system was failing at extreme range.
⚙ Specifications Mark 22 Grog
Weight: 2,000 lb (907 kg)
Dimensions: 14.9 ft (4.54 m) x 21 in (530 mm)
Propulsion: Battery (perchloric acid)
Range/speed setting: 12,000 yd (11,000m)@20 knots, 8,900 yd (8,100 m)@ 28 knots
Warhead: 89 kg (196 lb) Torpex
Guidance: Wire-guided to point, passive sonar acquisition for terminal guidance
Mark XXIV Tigerfish:
Despite many issues, the 1950 program initially setup to deliver an operational model in 1969 was too ambitious and technically complex to meet its original target. This 55-knot (102 km/h; 63 mph), deep-diving torpedo was driven by an internal combustion engine using high pressure oxygen as oxidant. It was guided by a wire system developed from the Mackle project in 1952. It used data transmitted from the firing submarine sonars during its wired run, until detached and completed its race to the target after acquisition using an autonomous active/passive sonar developed from the abandoned 1950s UK PENTANE torpedo project. This was also known as Project ONGAR and engineers were so confident in its superiority it was described as “…the end of the line for torpedo development”. The Mk 24 Tigerfish entered service in 1970, followed in the 1990s by the Spearfish.
⚙ Specifications Mark 24 Tigerfish
Weight: 1,550 kg (3,417 lb)
Dimensions: 6.5 m (21 ft) x 533 mm (21 in)
Power unit: Electrical, chloride silver-zinc oxide batteries 35-knot
Maximum range: 39 km (43,000 yd) at low speed, 13 km (14,000 yd) at 35 kts
Warhead: 134 to 340 kg (295 to 750 lb) Torpex
Guidance: Wire-guided to point, passive sonar target acquisition/terminal homing.
Next torpedo to cover: The Spearfish (Swiftsure class).
RGM-84B Sub-Harpoon:
The cancellation of the Undersea Guided Weapon programme led to purchase instead the Sub-Harpoon to give SSNs a long range capability strike. Normal provision was six of them, replacing torpedoes. Trials started in October 1981. This purchase was followed by the selection of the latest surface version, the RGM-84C, as the successor to the Exocet.
In short: Size 4.63 m x 0.343 m, 683 kg, Teledyne J402-CA-400 turbojet + booster, Mach 0.9, range 130 km.
Payload 221 kg WDU-18/B penetrating HE-fragmentation with delayed impact fuse.
Guidance: Initial phase Inertial navigation, final Active radar homing, sea skimming.
Stonefish and Sea Urchin mines:
Two could fit and take the place in the tube of a torpedo, they had the same diameter.
Stonefish mine: Developed by BAE for the RAN initially it had a warshot with incremental payload, generally with an aluminised PBX warhead base. It existed in four variants. Src
Sea Urchin mine: It was also developed by BAE (British Aerospace) in the early 1980s with a variety of warhead (250 kg, 500kg, and 750 kg) and common sensing, fuzing, and arming system combining acoustic, magnetic, and pressure sensors. It seemed to have been tested but never purchased.
Sensors
Type 1003 radar:Operating in X-band, surface+air warning and ranging. Type AKU(3) or AKS(2) antenae, derived from the 1002 radar.
Type 2001 sonar: Hull-mounted, low-frequency, detection sonar designed for nuclear-propelled submarines. Active and passive with an array of 24 flat panels carrying 56 transducers. producing 24 active search beams with a beam tilts down 20 degrees. Sonar type developed specifically for HMS Dreanought.
Type 2007 sonar: Hull mounted long-range passive sonar, upgraded from the Oberon class.
Type 2023 sonar: No data
UAB/UAC ECM suite: No data
DCB CCS: No data.
Conway’s profile of the Valiant class
Modified from the original dreadnought/resolution profile By Mike1979russia with other sources.
⚙ Valiant specs. |
|
| Displacement | 4,500 t surfaced, 5,000 t submerged |
| Dimensions | 285 ft x 33 ft 3 in x 27 ft (87 x 10.13 x 8.2 m) |
| Propulsion | 1 shaft Vickers/Rolls-Royce PWR1 reactor, 2 GE turbines, 1 diesel: 15,000 shp (18 MW) |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h) surfaced, 29 knots (54 km/h) |
| Range | Unlimited but for food supplies |
| Armament | 6× 21 in (533 mm) bow TTs (32 Mark VIII/Tigerfish), mines, see notes |
| Sensors | Type 1003 radar, Type 2001, Type 2007, Type 2019 sonars, UAA ECM suite, DCA/DCB CCS |
| Crew | 103 |
The sub-class Churchill
Churchill in construction
The Churchill class was based on the older Valiant class but with internal improvements. They were no more longer at 86.9 metres (285 ft 1 in) and had the same beam of 10.1 metres (33 ft 2 in) and draught but a Core B Rolls Royce PWR-1, and the same two English Electric geared turbines rated for 20,000 shaft horsepower (15,000 kW), but apparently slower at 28 knots (52 km/h) submerged.
One addition was the Kelvin Type 1006 surface-search radar and if they were originally built with a Type 2001 sonar array, by the late 1970s it was replaced by Type 2020 array with a Type 2026 towed array.
The Churchill class carried the same Mk VIII torpedoes, Mk 24 Tigerfish torpedoes, and Sub-Harpoon, for six forward tubes, 32 in store. They also evaluated the American Mark 48 torpedo and the UGM-84 Harpoon, adopted the latte. In 1981, HMS Courageous was the first British submarine to operate the Sub-Harpoon.
Upgrades
Valiant in 1980 followed by Warspite a year after, then Churchill in 1883 and by 1984-1985 Conqueror and Courageous respectively all had their major mid-life upgrade and modernization.
They notably lost their type 2001 sonar and UAA ECM suite for better systems (see below) but gained the Sub-Harpoon SSM, 4 UGM-84B onboard with associated control system, new satcom and radar, sonar suites: type 2020, type 2024 sonars, UAL ECM suite, DCA/DCB CCS
Sensors:
-Type 2024 sonar:
-Type 2020 sonar:
-UAL(1) ECM suite replacing the UAB/UAC
-DCB/DCG CCS replacing the DCB CCS.
Armament: UGM-84B
Specs in short: Speed 537 mph (864 km/h; 240 m/s), range c75 nmi (139 km), carrying a 488 pounds (221 kg) payload with impact fuse, Sea-skimming cruise, monitored by radar altimeter, active radar terminal homing.
Career of the Valiant class
In November 2010, a source claimed she ran aground in the North Norwegian Sea back in March 1991. It seems also she had engined issues but it might not be related to her retirement by June 1994, after which she was paid off on 12 August 1994. She is laid up afloat since at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth, Devon pending long term storage of radioactive components. She was latter partially stripped for HMS Courageous, selected to be a museum ship to represent the British SSN fleet in the Cold War.
In October 1968, whilst shadowing an Echo II-class submarine, she went too close and collided with her stern and propellers, suffering damage to her fin. She later surfaced to inspect damage but able to return home, repaired at Barrow. On 2 May 1976, while berthed in Liverpool, a fire broke up in her diesel generator room, which became the most serious incident in the RN cold war sub fleet. The fire forced an evacuation of the entire aft end, filled with dense smoke. It became impossible to monitor the status of the reactor. It was so bad, her captain considered scuttling. The fire was extinguished thanks to nearby civilian firefighters from the Liverpool Fire Brigade but it took more than 4 hours and it was even considered evacuating the city. Marine Engineering Officer Lt. Cdr. Tim Cannon, was one of three crew members awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for its response, three more were awarded Queens Commendations for “Brave Conduct”.
Warspite was refitted just before the Falklands War and made a record patrol there, with the longest submerged patrol from 25 November 1982 to 15 March 1983, 111 days submerged over 57,085 km (30,823 nmi; 35,471 mi). She became an enemy submarine on the ‘Ocean Safari’ documentary in 1984 with a detailed view of life on board, broadcasted on BBC One in January 1985, in a six-film series documenting the Submarine Service.
No logs for her later career. It seems her reactor was troublesome and like her sister, pushed her retirement in 1991. She was moved to HMNB Clyde, Faslane 3rd SubRon with hull and reactor laid up afloat at Devonport before long-term storage.
No records before the Falklands. This war made her world famous. At the time she commanded by Commander Chris Wreford-Brown when deployed from Faslane Naval Base, Gareloch, Scotland on 3 April 1982, just a day after the Argentine invasion. She arrived 21 days later, ordered to find and report Argentine shipping, and located the aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo.
On 30 April, she detected an Argentine Task Force 100 nautical miles away with her long range sonar, composed of the cruiser General Belgrano escorted by the Feltcher type ARA Piedra Buena and ARA Bouchard, all three of WW2 vintage. Belgrano was modernised in 1960–62 and had a SPS 40 LRAW radar and SQS29 sonar. But as the US ceased to deliver parts after the military junta took power, these systems were poorly maintained. The destroyers however had the Exocet missiles which can be a threat to the British expeditionary task force en route at the time. This force headed southwest of the Falklands, just outside the declared British exclusion zone. As Veinticinco de Mayo approaching the islands from the north, the commander of the carrier battle group in the South Atlantic, Rear Admiral “Sandy” Woodward feared a pincer attack with Veinticinco de Mayo from the north. Woodward requested permission to sink Belgrano and there was some debate, at Downing street, but it was granted eventually, confirmed by CiC Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse.
ARA Belgrano, one of two cruisers in service with the Argentine Navy at the time. This was a former late 1930s Brooklyn class cruisers. Six were sold via MDAP to Brazil, Chile and Argentina in 1951.
In between, General Belgrano turned west, whereas Veinticinco de Mayo was not yet ready to engage the British TF, no longer a “pincer”. But now Conqueror had a go-ahead and this later caused some controversy in the British and international press, although later trhe Argentinians considereed this a legitimate act of war. On 2 May, HMS Conqueror launched three Mark 8 torpedoes targerting at large both the cruiser and escorting destroyers. Two of struck the cruiser, one hitting an ammunition storage apparently and she exploded and sank after 20 minutes later, abandoned by her crew. Electrical failure prevented the pumps to work properly and launched distress signal in poor visibility. In fact the escorting destroyers were unaware of her sinking until hours later and only saved part of the crew. In all, 323 men died, most from hypothermia.
It is certain that captain Wreford-Brown had the option of a life-fire of the new Tigerfish torpedo, but decision was made instead to use the old but proven Mark VIII mod 4 instead. This was based on the poor reliability of the Tigerfish Mark 24 at the time. When entering service in 1973, the Mod 0 had a 40% success on average, functioning as intended. The torpedo tended to dip and break the guidance wires during launch notably. Provisional fleet acceptance trials in 1979 failed, but it was issued in 1980 nonetheless. The Mod 1 anti-ship seeker had issue with the shipboard tactical-data system and actual torpedo control. Production was also passed onto Plessey. A test performed in 1982, just after the Falklands War saw two out of five Mod 1 fired onto a hulk failing due to batteries issues and others for guidance problems. None even managed to hit the target. This unreliability became well known in the Fleet.
The Falklands operations
While Belgrano was sinking in the fog, Bouchard felt the impact of the third torpedo, failing ti explode, but causing 4 gashes into her hull with later in drydock the impact mark being consistent with her impact. So conqueror might have been sinking almost the entire task force that day. The two destroyers suspected the presence of the submarine and while speeing up westward thay started dropping depth charges in the blind. Captain Wreford-Brown looked at the two Argentine destroyers as a serious threat and searched for them, intended to sink them, rather than rescuing Belgrano’s survivors. When the destroyers realised Belgrano had disapperaed, they had a hard tming finding survivors in the dark on scatterred life rafts in bad weather.
Next was the threat of the Argentine Air Force, which managed to locate her wake and her raised periscope on 7 May, by a C130 Hercules, 100 feet (30 m) overhead, at peak light at midday in this short sub-antarctic day. The Argentines SE-2 Trackers on 21 de Mayo or from land could have attacked and drop air-launched anti-submarine torpedoes, but Conqueror managed to evade tem the following days, and continued to track Argentine aircraft departing from the mainland. After her patrol concluded, she went back home to a hero’s welcome, while no SSN would ever fire a torpedo at anger ever after.
She was based in Faslane, flying a Jolly Roger, a long time after WW2. The flag was preserved at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport, and it featured symbols such as an atom and crossed torpedoes plus a dagger for the “cloak-and-dagger” operation, and the outline of a cruiser. Commander Wreford-Brown being interviewed later said:
“The Royal Navy spent thirteen years preparing me for such an occasion. It would have been regarded as extremely dreary if I had fouled it up”.
Operation Barmaid was underwent later in 1982 by Conqueror, trying to acquire a Soviet passive towed sonar array from a Polish-flagged towing vessel. It was a joint mission with the USN conducted on the boundary of Soviet territorial waters. She had cutters affixed to her bow to in order to cut the 3 in (76 mm) towing wire before moving back to the Clyde.
On 2 July 1988 she collided with the Army Sail Training Association yacht Dalriada, south of the Mull of Kintyre. The yacht sank but the crew rescued.
She was decommissioned in 1990. Her periscopes, captain’s cabin, main control panel were saved and moved to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. She is in storage awaiting final disposal.
Read More/Src
Books
Daniels, R.J (2004). The End Of An Era: The Memoirs Of a Naval Constructor. Periscope Publishing. p. 134.
“Unit cost, i.e. excluding cost of certain items (e.g. aircraft, First Outfits).” Text from Defences Estimates
Defence Estimates, 1967-68, page 75, List and particulars of new ships… 31st March 1967
Defence Estimates, 1968-69, page 75, List and particulars of new ships… 31st March 1968
Moore, John, Janes Fighting Ships 1982-83, pub Jane’s Publishing, 1982
Gardiner, Robert Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1947-1995
The Encyclopedia of Warships, From World War Two to the Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson
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.
Hennessy, Peter; Jinks, James (2016). The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-241-95948-0.
Middlebrook, Martin (2012). The Falklands War. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84884-636-4.
Moore, John, ed. (1982). Janes Fighting Ships 1982–83. Jane’s Publishing. p. 547
Links
navypedia.org/
en.wikipedia.org/ Valiant-class_submarine
web.archive.org/ hmschurchill.co.uk/
hmscourageous.co.uk/
en.wikipedia.org/ Churchill-class_submarine
iwm.org.uk/
The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service Since 1945 De James Jinks, Peter Hennessy
Videos
The launch of HMS Churchill
A short video containing essential Health and Safety information that must be viewed prior to visiting Courageous
