HMS Vengeance (S31)

HMS "Vengeance" (S31) is the fourth and final "Vanguard" class submarine of the Royal Navy. "Vengeance" carries the Trident ballistic missile, the UK's nuclear deterrent.

"Vengeance" was built at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions), was launched in September 1998, and commissioned in November 1999.

Before she was commissioned, the British Government stated that once the Vanguard submarines became fully operational, they would only carry 200 warheads,

General characteristics
* Displacement: 16,000 tons submerged
* Propulsion: Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor, two GEC turbines, single shaft, pump jet propulsor
* Electrical Power: two Paxman diesel generators, two WH Allen turbogenerators
* Speed: 25 knots (46 km/h) submerged
* Complement: 14 officers, 121 men
* Strategic Armament: 16 Lockheed Trident II D5 ballistic missiles
* Defensive Armament: four 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes, Spearfish torpedoes

"Vengeance" carries the unopened "last instructions" of the current British Prime Minister that are to be used posthumously in the event of a national catastrophe or a nuclear strike [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/starttheweek.shtml "Cabinets and the Bomb" by Peter Hennnessy, published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press reviewed on BBC Radio 4, Start the Week] ] .

Affiliations

*The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)

References