Resolution class submarine
_in_1977.jpg) HMS Resolution in 1977
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Resolution class |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy
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| Succeeded by: | Vanguard class |
| In service: | 1968–1996 |
| Planned: | 5 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Cancelled: | 1 |
| Retired: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ballistic missile submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 425 ft (130 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 30 ft 1 in (9.17 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × Vickers/Rolls-Royce PWR1 pressurised-water nuclear reactor, 27,500 shp (20.5 MW); Propeller. |
| Speed: |
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| Range: | Unlimited except by food supplies |
| Complement: | 143 (two crews) |
The Resolution class was a class of four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) built for the Royal Navy as part of the UK Polaris programme. Each submarine was armed with up to 16 UGM-27 Polaris A-3 nuclear missiles.
The class comprised Resolution, Repulse, Renown and Revenge. They were built by Vickers Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness and Cammell Laird in Birkenhead between 1964 and 1968. All four boats were based at HM Naval Base Clyde (HMS Neptune), 40 km (25 mi) west of Glasgow, Scotland.
The Resolution class was the launch platform for the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent from the late 1960s until 1994, when it was replaced by the Vanguard-class submarine carrying the Trident II.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent was based on the RAF's V-bombers. But in the early 1960s developments in radar and surface-to-air missiles made it clear that bombers were becoming vulnerable, and would be unlikely to penetrate Soviet airspace. Free-fall nuclear weapons would no longer be a credible deterrent.
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