VIGILANT HMS (S30) submarine

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aukepalmhof
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VIGILANT HMS (S30) submarine

Post by aukepalmhof » Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:44 pm

Built as a nuclear ballistic missile submarine under yard No. 1111 by Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness for the Royal Navy.
16 February 1991 laid down.
14 October 1995 launched as the HMS VIGILANT (S30) one of the Vanguard-class.
Displacement: 16,200 ton submerged, dim.149.9 x 12.8 x 12m. (draught surface).
Propulsion: 1 × Rolls-Royce PWR2 nuclear reactor, 2 × GEC turbines; 27,500 shp (20.5 MW),1 × shaft, pump jet propulsor, 2 × auxiliary retractable propulsion motors, 2 × WH Allen turbo generators (6 MW), 2 × Paxman diesel alternators; 2,700 shp (2.0 MW). Speed In excess of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), submerged.
Range: Only limited by food and maintenance requirements.
Electronic warfare & decoys:
Two SSE Mk10 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys
RESM Racal UAP passive intercept
Armament: 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes for Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes,16 ballistic missile tubes for:16 × Lockheed Trident II D5 SLBMs (carrying up to 48 nuclear warheads).
Crew 135.
02 November 1996 commissioned.
Homeport: HMNB Clyde.

HMS VIGILANT is the third Vanguard-class submarine of the Royal Navy. VIGILANT carries the Trident ballistic missile, the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent.

Construction
VIGILANT was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions), was launched in October 1995, and was commissioned in November 1996.
The French Navy also has an SSBN in service called VIGILANT.
Letter of last resort
Peter Hennessy visited VIGILANT for the Today program on BBC Radio 4 in 2007. He reported that there is a grey safe in the control room that has an inner safe that only the commanding officer and executive officer can open. In that safe is a letter from the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the letter of last resort, which contains guidance and orders to be followed should the United Kingdom be attacked with nuclear weapons. This letter is identical to the other three letters on similar safes on the other three Vanguard-class submarines carrying the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent.

Operational history
In 2002, protestors from Trident Ploughshares breached security at Faslane Naval Base where the Vanguard-class submarines are based. Two protestors managed to spray paint VIGILANT with the CND symbol and the word "Vile".
VIGILANT arrived at Devonport on 11 October 2008 for a major refit. VIGILANT returned to the fleet on 27 March 2012 after her £300m refits. In 2013, she test-fired her main weapon, a firing of the Trident D5 after three years. VIGILANT returned from a patrol on 23 December 2016 before Christmas.

In October 2017, it was revealed that the vessel's captain had been relieved of his command following allegations of an "inappropriate relationship" with a female crew member. Along with the captain, his executive officer was also removed from his post amid allegations of an improper relationship with a different female crew member. Later that month, it was reported that nine crew members had been dismissed for misusing cocaine, a further crewman was to be court-martialled for being absent without leave after boarding a flight to the UK to meet his girlfriend, and a further two crew members had resigned.

2022 In active service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_VIGILANT_(S30)
St Tome et Principe 2021 Db31.00, sg?, Scott?
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Vigilant HMS _MOD_45157568 (2).jpg
Vigilant HMS _MOD_45157568 (2).jpg (84.32 KiB) Viewed 497 times
2021 VIGILANT  Submarines (5).jpg
2021 VIGILANT Submarines (5).jpg (68.59 KiB) Viewed 497 times

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