Trafalgar-class submarine

HMS Trafalgar in 2008
Class overview
BuildersVickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Barrow-in-Furness
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded bySwiftsure class
Succeeded byAstute class
Cost£200 million (1986) per unit
Built1977–1986
In service1983–present
Completed7
Active1
Retired6
General characteristics [1]
TypeNuclear-powered fleet submarines
Displacement
  • Surfaced: 4,500 to 4,800 t (4,700 long tons; 5,300 short tons)[2]
  • Submerged: 5,200 to 5,300 t (5,200 long tons; 5,800 short tons)[2]
Length85.4 m (280 ft)[2]
Beam9.8 m (32 ft)[2]
Draught9.5 m (31 ft)[2]
Propulsion
SpeedOver 30 knots (56 km/h), submerged[2]
RangeUnlimited[2]
Test depth600m
Complement130[2]
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • 2 × SSE Mk8 launchers for Type 2066 and Type 2071 torpedo decoys
  • RESM Racal UAP passive intercept
  • CESM Outfit CXA
  • SAWCS decoys carried from 2002
Armament
  • 5 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 30 weapons:

The Trafalgar class is a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines (SSNs) in service with the Royal Navy, and the successor to the Swiftsure class. Like the majority of Royal Navy nuclear submarines, all seven boats were constructed at Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, Cumbria. With only one boat remaining active and in commission (as of 2023) and six retired from the seven originally in service, the class makes up part of the Royal Navy's nuclear-powered ‘hunter-killer’ submarine force. The Trafalgar class has nearly been replaced by the larger and more capable Astute class, of which five are commissioned.

The name Trafalgar refers to the Battle of Trafalgar fought between the Royal Navy and the combined fleets of France and Spain in 1805.

  1. ^ "Trafalgar Class – Royal Navy". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bush, Steve (2014). British Warships and Auxiliaries. Maritime Books. p. 12. ISBN 978-1904459552.
  3. ^ Graham, Ian, Attack Submarine, Gloucester Publishing, Oct 1989, page 12. ISBN 978-0-531-17156-1


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